


Space Odyssey

by checkerboardom



Category: Blue Beetle (Comics), Justice League of America's Vibe (Comics), The Flash (TV 2014), The Flash - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Space, F/M, M/M, Space Opera
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-31
Updated: 2017-11-08
Packaged: 2018-08-12 07:01:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7925167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/checkerboardom/pseuds/checkerboardom
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A Space Odyssey in which planets explode, Cisco is a prince, Eobard crushes harder than a twelve year old girl, Bart becomes a space pirate, Jaime has a murderous beetle, Barry gets relationship advice from a computer, and Jay gets his identity stolen.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Part I: The Mission

**Author's Note:**

> Here's part one, in which everything goes wrong.

**Andromeda Galaxy**

**Second Earth**

**Janus Spatium Base**

**-**

 

Bart Allen wakes with the pressing thought that he's missing something important. The idea rings around in his head like a silent alarm, banishing the last vestiges of sleep that he desperately tries to cling to. Curling deeper into his cot, he groans and pulls his covers over his head. 

It's not like he has anything really important to do. Just call his guardian, eat breakfast, and -- 

"Shit!"  

Scrambling out of his makeshift bed, he makes a beeline for his closet and trips over something --his belt?-- and into the far wall. He glances at the time readout on the window, heart plummeting. He was supposed to be on the bridge three minutes ago!  

It takes him longer than he would like to get into uniform, fingers tripping over the buttons of his coat as he checks his hair in the mirror. His hair is a mess, sleep ruffled and nowhere near military standard, but a quick comb through with his fingers puts them into some semblance of not crazy. 

Sort of. 

Pulling on his boots, he checks that his pins are in place on his uniform, grabs his holster and bolts from his room. He only bumps into one person on his sprint to where he's supposed to meet the other ensigns; the man snaps his pincers at him, mandibles flaring in what might be a sneer as he calls an apology over his shoulder.  

Junior Lieutenant Raymond smiles at him when he finally reaches the others and he slots himself into the end of the line next to Wally.  

"Glad you could make it, Ensign." Raymond says and further down the line Jesse snorts. "The Captains should be arriving soon along with your Commanders."   

"I thought you were taking charge of us, sir?" Jesse says, poising her words as a question and the Junior Lieutenant nods.   

"For the majority of our mission, yes, but you need to be familiar with higher command." He glances further down the bridge and his face lights up. Bart leans out of line and spies Commander Snow along with his cousin and his cousin's girlfriend. 

 "Captain on the bridge!" Oh and there's his guardian along with the Prince Captain. "Attention!"  

He straightens his back and goes into salute with the others, following the example that Ronnie makes to his right. 

"At ease." The Prince Captain says once he reaches them and despite the brevity of their stance, Bart lets out a silent sigh of relief. He hates standing at attention. 

Together, his guardian and Eobard walk past them, introducing themselves and welcoming them along to the mission. Caitlin branches off to talk to Ronnie in hushed tones and Eobard gets this subtle smile on his face as he reaches Bart, but his eyes are trained on whoever has just arrived on the bridge.  

Barry and Iris? Or the short figure beside them that Bart vaguely remembers as Cisco? He looks back and forth between them and it's definitely Cisco that Eobard is smiling at, although the Lieutenant Commander doesn't seem to have noticed. He's too busy talking to Wally's older sister and Bart's cousin in excited tones, hands gesturing wildly as his hair tries to escape it's bun. 

"Your boots are untied." His guardian greets and Bart startles before checking his shoes. He hesitates for a moment, not sure if he should greet his Captain or fix them and Jay chuckles. "Fix them and be glad that the Prince Captain didn't notice." 

Bart snorts. "Not while the Lieutenant Commander is on the bridge, he won't." 

"What do you mean?" Jay asks and Bart nods his head toward Eobard. "He's going all moony eyed. Sir." 

"I can assure you that I am not, Ensign Allen. Neither am I deaf." The Prince Captain interrupts before Jay can reply and Bart can feel himself flushing all the way up his neck. 

"My apologies, sir." He says meekly and Eobard gives him a considering look.  

"You're Lieutenant Allen's younger cousin." It's not a question, but a fact and for a moment Bart feels annoyance bubble up in his stomach. He doesn't just want to be known as Barry's little cousin.   

"And Captain Garrick's ward, sir." He answers, squaring his shoulders so that he doesn't look as young as his words make him feel. The Prince Captain tucks his hands behind his back and Bart's annoyance quickly vanishes at the thought that he might have garnished himself a punishment before he's even made it onto the ship by talking behind it's first in command's back.  

 Instead, Eobard just nods and turns to Ronnie. "Lieutenant Junior Raymond," He calls and Ronnie turns away from Caitlin at the sound of his name. "Ensign Allen will be mentoring under Lieutenant Commander Ramon for the duration of our voyage. See that the appropriate quarters are assigned to him."  

 With that he leaves, hands still tucked behind his back and shoulders straight as he makes his way over to where Admiral West is waiting with their cargo.  

 "This is a good thing." Jay assures him before he follows in the Prince Captain's wake and Bart frowns.  

 It doesn't feel like a good thing, given that he doesn't know Ramon nearly as well as the others, but he resigns himself to his fate and follows the other Ensigns onto the ship. 

 

... 

 

Lieutenant Commander Cisco Ramon is not what you'd normally consider a person of Power to look like. Besides the bars on his sleeves and the knowledge nestled in his mind, he's one of the most laid back, sunny people that Bart has ever met.  

 "You're late." The Prince Captain comments as Cisco arrives in the control room of the ship and his fourth in command doesn't even bother to look apologetic.  

 "Some of the Archivists found schematics for a particle accelerator from First Earth." He says cheerfully and Bart winces internally at the reprimand he knows is coming, but the Prince Captain honest to god smiles. It's tiny and lasts about the blink of an eye, but Bart would swear on his Academy degree that it was there. 

 "... believe they hadn't even found the god particle yet. And their materials were so prehistoric. Why use copper when they could have manufactured a synthetic..."  

 And there's that moony look again. If the Prince Captain put his chin in his hands he wouldn't be more obvious. Like before, the Lieutenant Commander doesn't seem to notice, caught up in explaining his own discovery of age old technology.  

 Finally he trails off, clearing his throat, as Eobard gains a serious look. "I'll loose you to the engineers eventually." He remarks in a joking manner and Bart nearly chokes on his spit.  

 From the look on his face Cisco does the same thing. "I like my place here, sir." He says in a much more subdued tone and is that violins in the background?  

 "Well, I'm glad you're here. Ensign Allen?" 

 Bart snaps into salute. "Sir?" 

 Eobard waves a hand and Bart relaxes. "This is Lieutenant Commander Ramon. You're to shadow him for our voyage and help him with his work. In return he'll teach you all there is to know about the ship.  Understood?" 

 Bart nods, then checks himself. "Yes, sir." 

 "Good." Eobard nods toward the door. "You may join the other ensigns until we leave Second Earth's atmosphere. Report back at oh six hundred hours for the start of your shift." 

 "You don't have to be so formal with him." Bart hears Cisco remark as he leaves the room, but he reaches the hallway before he hears the Prince Captain's reply.  

 He learns quickly that all the corridors of the ship are identical to each other. He wanders for a good fifteen minutes before admitting defeat. "Computer?" 

 "How can I be of assistance, Ensign Allen?" The ships AI replies, appearing before him as... 

 "Aunt Nora?" It looks just like her, created out of blue pixels and light, eyes bright and clever. 

 "Nora, please." She corrects, folding her hands behind her back in a familiar pose. "Would you like me to walk with you?" 

 He nods and she assumes a leisurely pace beside him. "I need to meet Ronnie and the others in the mess quarters."  

 "Junior Lieutenant Raymond and the Ensigns are just down the hall to the left." She informs him, a path of blue lighting up along the floor as she talks." I can show you, but I'll be needed in Control once we reach the edge of the system." 

 They walk in silence until they reach the hall and Bart finally musters up the courage to ask: "Why do you look like my aunt?"  

 Nora pauses, a frown slipping over her face as the noises of the other ensigns echo from their left. "If I were to hazard a guess, I'd say it's since you uncle created me in her image. 

 "Uncle Henry?"  

 Her frown becomes a beautific smile at his words. "Yes. He wanted a comforting presence on the ship with our..." She pauses, eyes going troubled. "With Barry."  

 "You've been here since he was stationed?" He asks and she shakes her head, a soft chuckle ringing in the air.  

 "I've been here much longer than that. It will be fifteen years come the next solar orbit of Janus." She must see his confused look, because she clarifies. "A military AI is expected to operate with a Prince Captain through his final stage of prerequisite service before they can officially be assigned to a ship. It's to build loyalty between the ship and it's first in command. However, Dr. Allen approached the Prince Captain with an offer of a new AI before his initial voyage as a Prince." 

 "So you were assigned to the Star of Gideon before Eo--"  He catches himself. "The Prince Captain met you?" 

 She nods. "So far no one has protested and Eobard Thawne has proven to be a good Prince. However, if Barry Allen chooses to climb the ranks of command and take his own ship, I will go with him." She gestures to the dining hall entrance. "It is time I take my leave. Please call if you ever have need of me." 

 With a dip of her head she vanishes and Bart squares his shoulders as he goes to meet the others. Ronnie greets him with a smile when he catches sight of him, waving him over as he motions for the other ensigns to quiet down.  

 "Now that everyone is here, we can go over our mission." He begins and Jesse raises a hand.  

 "Ensigns don't normally get briefed, sir." She says and Ronnie nods.  

 "You don't, but we're on a high priority mission and the Captains thought it'd be best that you knew it's importance." He pauses, but when Jesse offers no further comments, continues: "We're transporting an intergalactic criminal to a remote prison in system nine. That being said, the lower levels have been barred to the lot of you to ensure that our cargo doesn't get loose."  

 "Loose," Wally echoes, brow furrowing in confusion. "Is it dangerous?"  

 Ronnie nods and taps a command into his compad. "Yes he is, but he's also extremely smart, which is why--"  

 "Wait," Jesse interrupts. "Isn't that the Captain?"  

 Bart's head jerks up at her words, gaze following hers to the display that Ronnie has pulled up. His Guardian stares back at him with cold blue eyes and a feral grin.  

 "Meet Hunter Zoloman, cousin of Captain Jay Garrick and the destroyer of First Earth." Ronnie says but Bart barely hears him over the buzzing in his ears. His entire world constricts to the picture before him, bile rising in his throat along with memories of his last day on First Earth.  

 

✨  ✨  ✨  

 

**Milky Way Galaxy**

**First Earth**

**Central City, MO**

**-**

 

Bart Allen runs as fast as his five year old legs can carry him, arm wrapped protectively around  his favorite frisbee as Joan holds his other hand. He feels as if he's been running since he woke up to his Guardian hurriedly packing his things, motions frantic in a way that sent instinctual fear coursing through his tiny body. 

"Joan?" He squeaks, climbing from his bed so that he can comfort her and her shoulders sag. 

 "I didn't mean to wake you, baby." She tells him, packing postponed as she gathers him into her arms. When he hugs her back, her body trembles and that scares him even more.  

 "Why are you packing my things." A horrible thought comes barreling into his mind. "Do you-- Do you and Jay not want me anymore?" 

 She pulls back to look at him, hands firm on his shoulders. "Of course we want you, sweetie. We'd be lost without you. In fact," She presses a kiss to his forehead. "You and I are going to go see Jay up on his ship."  

 Immediately his fear is forgotten, replaced by childish glee. "I get to see the stars?" He squeaks and Tess nods.  

 "Yep, but only if you're a good boy and do everything I tell you." 

 She bops him on the nose with her finger and his face wrinkles in response. "I'll be good. I promise!" 

 Her eyes dance as tears start to well in them, but Bart is much too excited to notice. "Go grab your shoes, baby boy." She tells him and he runs off as fast as his little legs can carry him to do as she asks. Joan looks after him for a moment, heart aching, before wiping away her tears and going back to packing his clothes.  

 By the time she's done, Bart has found his shoes and a matching pair of socks. For once, Joan doesn't scold him for staying in his pajamas and he thinks that she must be as happy as he is about seeing space up close.  

 They're walking out the door when Bart remembers his frisbee. Joan had got it for him for his birthday and it wasn't just any old disc like toy. No, this one had a propulsion motor and lights and he wanted to show to Jay once he saw him. Tearing away from his Guardian, he runs back into the house, ignoring her cries for him to come back.  

 He tears through their home like a miniature tornado, not sure where he last left his toy. It's after several minutes of searching that he remembers playing with it in the backyard last and bolts for the patio door. He unlocks it and pushes it open with a huff, small arms straining again the weight of the glass as Joan finally catches up yo him.  

 "Bart! We have to go." She tells him, but he ignores her, tennis-shoed feet trampling the plush grass in the backyard as he makes his way to his playhouse. His frisbee is nestled at the top along with a few of his other toys and he grabs it, eyes going wide as he spots something on the horizon.  

 "Joan!" He calls down, finger pointing toward the storm of lightning in the middle of the city. "Look at the lights!"  

 "I saw them." She tells him, motioning for him to get down. "Now we have to go or we won't see Jay."  

 That snapped Bart to attention. Not see Jay? But they had to!  

 Tucking his frisbee under his arm, he using his slide to get back down to the ground and grabs Joan's hand. It's a short drive to the space docks, but Bart falls asleep nonetheless, deaf to the call that Joan makes to Jay on the phone.  

 "Were they able to find space on the ships?" She asks as she speeds away from the city.  

 "Not much, but I reached out to a few contacts. Jed said that he could get you on if you get to the docks before the departure time." Jay, for all his characteristic happiness, sounds worried and Joan flicks her gaze over to the little boy in the passenger seat.  

 "If anything happens, you'll take care of our son." She tells Jay and something in the man's expression cracks, his stress and worry leaking through like sap.  

 "Nothing will happen." He reassures her and Joan tries for a smile. "Just get to the docks and find Jed, okay?" He looks to the side as his name is called. "I have to go, but listen. Everything will be okay. I love you."  

 "Love you too." She echoes back and the call cuts out. 

 The area around the base is packed with people that yell so loud they wake Bart up. He looks out the window at them, all of them clamoring to be heard over the rest. "Are all these people going to see the stars too?" He asks as a guard spots Joan and waves them through the throng of pressing bodies and Joan nods, a hand reaching over to ruffle the curls on Bart's head.  

 Once the car is parked, Bart unbuckles his seatbelt and climbs out while his guardian grabs his their bags. Once she has everything, she grabs his hand and starts pulling him through the halls of the station to where their ship is waiting. Joan flashes her badge to the man in the bridge, but instead of letting them through like the other men had, he holds out an arm and bars their way.  

 "The ship is at capacity; you'll have to wait for another one." He tells her and Bart huddles close to his guardian's side.  

 Joan is wearing her fiercest expression, practically glaring the man down, but he doesn't even flinch. He just looks back at her with tired eyes.  

 "We have seats aboard the ship." She tells him and the man sighs.  

 "Ma'am, you'll be surprised how many people have seats aboard that ship." His words are laced with sarcasm and Joan stiffens.  

 "Call Prince Captain Annalus Jed and ask him for all I care. We have seats."  

 "The Prince is preparing for take off and besides," He nods his head toward the city. "Whatever's going on down there took out all our radio systems. I couldn't reach him even if I tried."  

 For a long moment, Joan simply stares at the man, eyes searching his as the hand that Bart is holding begins to tremble. "Please," She finally says. "At least let my son on board. He won't take much room and he's light enough not to pass the weight limit."  

 "But Joan," Bart tries, swallowing the uneasy feeling in his stomach. "You're going too, right? We have to see Jay."  

 Joan tears her gaze away from the guard and kneels down before Bart. "We will. I'm going to wait for another ship, okay?"  

 "Like the people at the gates?" Bart asks and Joan nods.  

 "I'll be right behind you, baby. Now," She puts Bart's backpack over his shoulders and straightens up. "This nice man is going to take you onto the ship. One of the stewards will take you to see Jed as soon as they can."  

 Bart sniffs, eyes welling with tears no matter how much he doesn't want them to. Big boys don't cry! "I want you to go with me."  

 Joan smiles and scoops him up to a hug. Pressing a kiss to his curls, she lets out a sigh that's more of a shudder and squeezes him tight. "I'll be right behind you, baby boy."  

 She sets him down and the guard holds out a hand for him to take. As he's led away, he looks over his shoulder and turns when he hears his name being called.  

 "I love you, baby." Joan calls, arms wrapped around herself as her bag lies at her feet and Bart echoes it back to her.  

 It's the last words that she ever says to him. As the ship clears the third layer of the atmosphere, a shockwave rips out from Central City and shudders through the entire United States. The force of it is so great that it rips the Earth in two, entire continents sinking below the sea as the planet fractures like a glass ornament that's been dropped on the floor.  

Bart watches it from a window in the ship, the people around him silent and grave in their horror as they watch an entire planet implode.  

 

✨  ✨  ✨  

 

**Ares Cluster**

**Andromeda Galaxy**

**SEMS. Star Of Gideon**

**-**

 

Prince Captain Eobard Thawne has never been a man to deny himself what he wants. It's a habit that has seen him well through life and led him to a military career aboard his own ship and a crew that follows his every command. He shudders to think what would have happened had he followed his brother into the game of politics like their father had done before them and his father before him. 

 Still, he finds himself wanting, but hesitant to act when it comes to one singular point in his life. That point, or person rather, happens to be the young man standing across from him on the training mats. His hair is finally pulled up into a proper bun to keep the errant tendrils out of his eyes and Eobard finds that he prefers the messy look more. However, he's worked alongside Cisco Ramon long enough to not let such thoughts bother him.  

 Much. 

 Currently, they're supposed to be training. Or rather, Cisco is supposed to be training, as all registered Powers are required to do. His status in Second Earth's military only means that he requires regular martial training specifically suited to his particular Power genotype in order to maintain his ranking upon the ship. Normally such duties would fall to someone of Commander Snow's status, but Eobard enjoys the time that he spends one on one with Cisco just as much as he did with Snow when she was going through the last of her preliminaries.  

 Shaking the thought from his mind, he motions for Cisco to ready himself for the beginning of their next match.  

 "We'll be working on your close range combat this time." He informs him and Cisco frowns.  

 "I thought that my abilities were meant for long range."  

 In the space between them, a hologram begins to count down from five. 

 "They are." Eobard acknowledges. "That doesn't mean you'll never be in a close quarters fight." 

 Cisco mouth forms a silent O and the countdown vanishes. Using the mini-teleporter that's programmed into the braces of his sparring suit, Eobard vanishes and reappears directly in front of Cisco. The Lieutenant Commander responds instantly, hands coming up as a shockwave ripples out from his palms, but Eobard teleports again.  

 Spinning on the spot, Cisco blinks, eyes going a vibrant gold as they scan the vibrational waves inside their training room. There's a ripple behind him, but before he can turn again, a hand clamps around the back of his neck and forces him down. He throws his elbow back, hoping to catch the Prince Captain by surprise but the older man simply catches it and pins his other arm behind his back.  

 "Point." The artificial referee calls and Eobard releases him. 

 Spinning back into his beginning position, Cisco rubs the back of his neck as the countdown reappears. He's not stupid enough to think that he'll never need close quarters training, but all of their previous sessions had been to sure up his long range defense and offence abilities and Eobard knows that the younger man will want to rely on that training when push came to shove.  

 Hence the new regimen.  

Allowing Cisco to make the opening attack, the Prince Captain uses his right hand to push down on Cisco's inner elbow, deflecting his arm and his ensuing vibe before grabbing his opposite wrist and twisting it. The younger man spits out a curse as he's forced to turn with the movement, lest Eobard break his wrist, leaving his back open.  

 "Point." 

 Cisco huffs out a breath when the older man releases him and wipes a few strands of escaped hair out of his face. "Okay. I get it. Now how do I do it?"  

 Eobard has to bite down a smile as he beckons the younger man forward. "When I try to hit you, use the palm of your right hand here," Guiding Cisco's hand to his inner elbow, he demonstrates, allowing the younger man to push his arm to the side. "My body will naturally turn with the deflection and you simply step your right foot between mine to undermine my balance and--" 

 He cuts off with a grunt, as instead of grabbing his opposite wrist and twisting, Cisco hooks his arm around his and pulls him into a headlock. His right leg locks into place behind the older man's knee and Eobard allows himself to fall to the ground.  

 "--follow through." The Prince Captain finishes as the referee calls a point in Cisco's favor. 

 "Admiral West may have taught me a little self defense during our off duty time in Janus." Cisco  admits sheepishly and Eobard chuckles.  

 "It was a very clever move." He allows and the Lieutenant Commander grins at the praise. Taking a proffered hand back to his feet, Eobard tells the younger man to repeat his actions, but as Cisco brings him into a headlock, he hooks his hand into his arm and uses the younger man's momentum to switch their positions.  

 It ends with both of them on the floor, Eobard straddling Cisco's hips as he holds his left arm in a lock. He releases him quickly and gives the younger man a moment to breath.  

 "Your lesson is aimed toward stopping a fight with minimal effort if you're ever faced with the option of hand to hand." The Prince Captain says in the ensuing quiet. "The training coordinators don't have nearly enough information on your genotype to formulate a close combat offensive strategy."  

 Cisco lets out a sigh of relief. "That means no bruises."  

 Allowing his lips to tilt into a smile, Eobard helps Cisco rise to his feet and motions for him to resume his starting position. Even if the new regimen didn’t call for fighting --or subsequent bruising-- he knew that Cisco would still be aching by the time they were through.  

 It didn't quite satisfy the curl of want that settled inside of him like something wild whenever he and Cisco were alone, but it would do.  

 … 

 Bart's frisbee makes a dull purring noise as it cuts through the air and soars a circuit around the room. In all the excitement of Academy and graduating and being assigned to a ship, no one had ever mentioned how boring actual space travel was. Once they'd actually left the Ares galaxy and the Prince Captain placed the ship into hyper-drive it was almost as if the ship was suspended in time.  

 Lieutenant Commander Ramon had been pulled away for combat training -- what kind of high ranking official needed extra training anyway? -- by the Prince Captain and after their debriefing, Ronnie had left them to go assist Commander Snow with monitoring the ship's course. Jay had vanished by the time Bart thought to look for him and he didn’t really feel like hunting down Barry for something to do.  

 Which left him with nothing to do. 

 "If you shoot that metal disk at me one more time, I'll stick it on the opposite end of the ship's airlock." Jesse warns and Bart calls his frisbee back with a flick of his wrist.  

 "It's not like I have anything else to do." He defends himself and Jesse raises her head from what looks like archives of First Earth culture -- boring -- to give him an unimpressed look.  

 "Then bother Wally." She replies. Bart slumps even further into his seat.  

 "Can't," He nods toward where Wally is asleep in one of the chairs. "Nothing short of a pirate attack would wake him up."  

 At his words, Jesse gets a shuttered look on her face. "You know that the Lieutenant Commander is one, right?" 

 Bart flicks his frisbee across the room again. "One, what?"  

 "A pirate." Closing her reader, Jesse leans forward. "My dad used to tell me stories about his mom. Before the First Earth was destroyed the entire Ares galaxy was a main trade port for the Ramonis, the People of Power, and they were all lead by one core bloodline. They and the rest of the Powers are where we get the other genotypes from, once the settlers started to mix with the native people it triggered a latent mutation in our DNA. Except the king's only daughter, La-Reina, was born without that mutation. According to all the logs we have stored in the archives, she was an outcast to her people and once they struck up trade with the people of First Earth, she became infuriated and left her people."  

 Bart startles as his frisbee comes soaring back, so caught up in the story that he barely catches it. "Why was she so mad?"  

 Jesse leans forward and lowers her voice. "Because her people were welcoming the newcomers despite them being Powerless, while she was shunned for it. So she and her betrothed left and became nomads in the back water part of the galaxy where she wasn't likely to be recognized. Over the years she had three sons and after the youngest was born, her husband disappeared." 

 "What happened to him?" Bart asks, morbid curiosity getting the better of his good sense. If they got caught talking about the Lieutenant Commander like this, they'd probably end up scrubbing the corridors for the rest of their mission.  

 "Some people think that she killed him when she realized that he'd passed his genotype on to her sons."  

 "And the other, saner people figure that he died in an accident instead of spreading rumors about someone they've never met." A voice interrupts from the doorway and both of them jump.  

 "Lieutenant Allen, I--" Jesse begins and Barry holds up a hand.  

 "I don’t think I need to remind you what it's like to live in the shadow of your mother's actions, Ensign Chambers." Barry's tone is more serious than Bart has heard it in years and across from him Jesse flushes a bright red. "The Lieutenant Commander had a hard enough time during his Academy years because of his parentage and I won't allow anyone to bring that negativity on the ship. Understood?" 

 Mutely, they both nod and Barry smiles, his stony expression vanishing as if it had never been there. 

 "Good. Captain Garrick wanted me to get you guys for dinner." Walking over to Wally, he gives the sleeping ensign a nudge that nearly sends him toppling out of his chair as he startles awake.  

 "I'm up. I'm up!" He sits up with a yawn and Bart snickers at the imprint of the chair's fabric on his face. "What I miss?"  

 "The whole mission." Barry deadpans. "We're headed home."  

 "Sir?" Bart interrupts before Wally can reply. "Where exactly is my-- Captain Garrick?"  

 "In the lower decks. Why?"  

 Bart shrugs and collapses his frisbee so that he can shove it into his pocket. "I wanted to talk to him before lights out."  

 Something in Barry's eyes soften. "You can see him after dinner. Which we all have to be at in five minutes." He reminded them and they all jumped to attention. 

 … 

 When they reach the mess hall, Jesse immediately makes a beeline for where Cisco Ramon is sitting, hands clamped behind her back to keep her nervousness at bay.  

 "Lieutenant Commander?" She greets and he looks up from his conversation with the Prince Captain to smile at her.  

 "Ensign Chambers. What d'you need?" 

 "Nothing, sir. I just…" She pauses and bites her lip. "I just wanted to say that I admire what you've done despite who your mother is."  

 His smile drops like a star from the sky and with it so does Jesse's courage. Beside him, the Prince Captain quirks an eyebrow and the clear disapproval in that single gesture makes Jesse wish that she'd never opened her mouth. Still, she pushes forward.  

 "That came out wrong. What I meant is that I couldn’t imagine how hard it must have been to make your own way for yourself here when the people that you love wanted something different."  

 "Do you wish that the same could be said for you, Ms. Chambers?" The Prince Captain asks and Jesse flushes, head dipping in a not-quite nod.  

 "I'm sure you already know, but my mother was the first female Prince Captain and I'm supposed to follow in her footsteps, but…" 

 "But you don’t want to and you want to know how I did it so that you can too." Cisco finishes for her and relief floods her system. At least he understands.  

 "If you could give me pointers, it would be much appreciated." She agrees and the Lieutenant Commander runs a hand through his hair. 

 "What do you want to do?" He asks and the questions draws her up short. No one had actually asked her that before.  

 "I want to study cultural anthropology, sir." She tells him and his smile comes back.  

 He turns to the Prince Captain. "Eo?"  

 Thawne regards them both for a long moment. "Commander Snow is our resident Alien Life Liaison; I'm sure that she'd be happy to mentor you." He tells her and Jesse's face lights up like the sun.  

 "Thank you." Her voice betrays her disbelief at the offer of tutelage in a career that she actually wants to pursue. "Thank you so, so much." 

 Eobard shakes his head and rises from the table. "If you'll excuse me…" He pauses and looks over to Captain Garrick. "Your ward is trying to get your attention." He nods his head toward where Bart is staring at Jay with single-minded focus from the table where the ensigns are seated, an occasional, half aborted "Hey!" escaping his lips. 

 Jay's lips quirk into a smile in response and he gathers his plate so that he can join Bart in eating his meal.  

 "My father died from star fever."  

 Jesse startles at the unexpected statement, attention snapping back to Cisco. "What?" 

 Cisco shrugs and spears an asparagus with his fork. "Barry said that you were giving an impromptu history lesson and I figured that you'd like to know."  

"I'm sorry."  

 "Don't worry about it," He waves a hand. "He was gone before I was born and…" He looks out one of the ships main viewing windows then back to Jesse with an overly bright smile. "I've dealt with much worse. Barry's just protective because I dormed with him in Academy and he was there to witness the worst of it." 

 He rises from his seat, the remainder of his dinner forgotten as his comm chimes. "I'm needed on the bridge for the end of my shift." He tells her and Jesse nods. 

 "Thank you." She repeats and he smiles before leaving the hall with quick, confident steps.  

 … 

 Bart hurries his steps in order to keep pace with his guardian. He's short for his age and Jay had gotten smacked by the lucky stick during puberty and came out at 6'2."  The point is that Bart is struggling not to be left behind as Jay goes about his rounds. Every time the Captain notices his ward lagging behind he gets a sheepish look on his face and slows down, but a couple strides later their back to square one and Bart loves it because it reminds of all the times that Jay had given him tours of Spatium bases when he was a kid. 

 Eventually they reach a section of the ship where Jay won't let him follow. "The hold is off limits and I have to check on our cargo." He explains and it takes Bart a moment to realize that their cargo is a mass murderer responsible for blowing up an entire planet.  

 Letting himself be left in the outer entrance of the hold, he finds a few empty crates, stacks them under the horizontal viewing window that runs the length of the hold and uses them to see.  

 The hold is dark save for a couple of lights set up among the steal beams of the ceiling. In the center of the space sits the Ceres, one of the standard fighters that are loaded onto the Second Earth military ships for use in defense against hostile forces. When he first registers the flicker of movement, he isn't quite sure what he's seeing, his eyes having not adjusted to the dimness of the room beyond. Then the image before his eyes solidifies and he realizes that he's seeing double; his guardian and a mass murderer. 

 The bolt of fear that runs through him is cold and all consuming, freezing him in place as Hunter levels a gun at his guardian. In the back of his mind, he recognizes it as a low level stunner; the Ceres doesn’t come stocked with heavy duty firearms because they're not supposed to get that close to an enemy force,  but by the time he processes this, Jay is already a heap on the ground and the air feels frozen in his lungs.  

 Ducking down when Hunter looks over, he scrambles off the crates and takes off toward the main section of G level. 

 "Nora?" He calls,  but the AI doesn’t answer so he keeps moving, looking for someone that he can tell.  

 "Bart?" 

 "Commander Ramon!" Relief washes through like a tide and for a moment he considers grabbing the Lieutenant Commander and dragging him to Jay's rescue. Then Cisco snaps to attention and that frozen, dreadful feeling comes back.  

 "Ensign Allen, Lieutenant Commander Ramon," says a silken voice behind him and Bart's eyes widen as he turns to face Hunter Zoloman. "I thought the ensigns weren't allowed in the lower levels."  

 "Which is why I'm escorting Bart up to E deck. Captain." Cisco replies and Bart feels his heart plummet. The Lieutenant Commander waves Bart ahead of him shoulders straight and face blank and all Bart can think is that Jay is somewhere in the hold, possibly hurt and in need of help. It's the only outcome of his fate that Bart can allow himself, his entire being recoiling from the fact that Jay might be dead.  

 "I'll walk with you then." Hunter informs them, seeming content to follow along behind them. Bart wavers between wanted to keep an eye on him and not wanting to seem suspicious, so he focuses on Cisco instead. The ship's fourth in command doesn't seem put off by their shadow, instead tapping his code into the ship's elevator with sure fingers. He spares a glance toward Bart and winks and it's in that moment that the ensign realizes that Cisco is well aware that something is wrong.  

 Relaxing somewhat, he stays close to Cisco, his muscles tightening with anticipation at every step until finally they reach E Deck. It's then everything goes wrong.  

 Having not paid any attention to Hunter, both Bart and Cisco fail to notice that he's drawn Jay's gun until Cisco drops to the floor. Knowing that the energy guns are kept to stun by default doesn’t lessen Bart's knee jerk response to his Lieutenant Commander being hurt and he quickly tries to catch him, only to be pulled back by Hunter.  

 "Leave him be." The criminal says, voice in his ear as he stares down at the body at his feet. He motions with the gun toward one of the escape pod bays on the deck and gives Bart a code to tap in.  

 "Emergency escape pod E-23 active." Rings Nora's voice, automated and lifeless. "Authorization Lieutenant Commander Cisco Ramon."  

 Bending to pick up Cisco, he flicks his blaster to it's fourth setting, giving its blasts enough energy behind them to kill. "Leave this pod and you'll be dead before you hit the floor."  

 Bart nods numbly, mind conflicted at the Lieutenant Commander is unceremoniously dumped at his feet. The door to the pod closes behind him, cutting his view of Hunter off and for a brief moment, Bart allows himself the hope that they'll simply be sealed inside the escape vessel. Then the back up lights flicker on as the pod is disconnected from the ship's power supply, throwing its two occupants into shadow. There's a hiss of the locks to the ship disengaging and Bart scrambles for a seat in the pod before skidding to a halt as he remembers Cisco.  

 Stooping down, he shoulders Cisco's left arm and pulls it over his shoulder, nearly buckling under his dead weight. Luckily the Lieutenant Commander is small enough that he manages to bring him to one of the seats and strap him in. He's just managed to make it to one himself when the pod is thrown forward with him along with it. His head connects with the command console and everything goes black. 


	2. Part II: The Desert

Qwar Galaxy  
M'arrz  
Kha-Ef-Re Desert

-

Jamie jerks his head up from his conversation with a merchant as a brief shadow flickers over the market, quick as a blink and gone again. A few people around him notice it as well and a quiet murmur goes up, not nearly loud enough to overcome the general noise of the market, but noticeable to his ears, keen as they are.

Setting the fruit in his hand down, he excuses himself hastily from the merchant and looks toward the horizon. "What do you think it is?" He asks and his scarab peaks from underneath his hood, blue body glinting in the sun.

'A meteor most likely.' Kahji Da surmises, but Jaime can tell that his interest is peaked.

"We should get  B'arzz."

'And drag him off into the desert to look at nothing?' His scarab snips, retreating back into Jaime's clothes so that he can take his place at the base of his spine. 'We will look ourselves.'

Mind apparently made up, he settles into his cradle and Jaime soon feels the familiar sting of him linking up to his nervous system. Within seconds he's wrapped in protective blue armor and flying over the market.

'It came from the east, with the sun.' Kahji Da informs him as they streak across the desert and Jamie angles his body suitably, only having caught a second of it and willing to trust the scarab's memory over his own.

Their relationship hadn't always been so easy, Jaime being barely a teen when he'd stumbled across the beetle after being separated from his family during their trip through the desert. The pain of Kahji Da taking control of his body that first time had knocked him unconscious for the better part of a week and it's only due to B'arzz finding him that he had survived at all.

Over the years, Jaime had gained more control, learning to use the scarab's exoskeleton as armor like his guardian so often did, but Kahji Da had frequently imposed himself upon his thoughts and, being less suited to humans, the experience had often been extremely unpleasant. Eventually Jaime's mind had stopped feeling like a crowded shell for two separate consciousnesses, but the time before that had felt much like a never ending battle over who was best suited for his body. The scarab's ability to detach himself however was a rare one that, according to B'arzz, isn't shared among any of the other scarabs' hosts, but it proves useful when Kahji Da is in one of his frequent independent moods.

Cresting over a medium sized dune, he hovers in the air and looks to the western horizon. "Maybe it dissolved in the atmosphere?" Jaime hazards and can immediately feel his scarab's dissatisfaction at the thought.

'If you are scared, need I remind you that I can keep us safe.'

"I'm not scared!" Jaime protests indignantly, only to wheel backwards as something shoots into the air in the distance. "That was a standard Spatium door. Kahji, it's a ship!

He can barely keep in his excitement at the thought. The only ships that visited this part of the desert were merchant freights. Anything else didn't dare risk getting lost in M'arrz's ever-changing magnetic currents or, even worse, the frequent haboobs that swept across the planet's surface. Jaime hadn't seen a Spatium ship since his family's docking on one before their final descent to the desert itself some seven years ago, but the markings were unmistakable.

To see one now, in the middle of the desert is astounding and for a wild moment, he imagines that his family had returned for him.

This dream, however far off, is completely dashed when the rest of the ship comes into view. It's only a small emergency transport, half the size of a fighter and nearly buried in the sand due to impact. Still, Kahji Da urges him closer, a scope coming to view in the armor's hub as he assesses the crash.

'There is movement.' The scarabs observes, zooming in as he brings their arms up and morphs them into canons. There's the unmistakable hum of energy being gathered before Jaime finally focuses on what Kahji Da is seeing and quickly shifts their line of fire.

"Don't shoot him!" He tells the scarab, who grumbles but puts the canons away nevertheless. He keeps up the discontented noise all the way to the ground, where Jaime lands and looks over the boy lying outside the small spacecraft. Looking around for something to poke him with, Jaime finds nothing and finally settles on using his foot to gently prod his side.

"Hey, are you alive?" He asks, nearly stumbling when the boy groans and blinks open unfocused eyes.

'We should put him out of his misery.' Kahji Da says, but whatever reply Jaime can make to that is forestalled by the near silent sound of feet over sand.

The blast that comes with it catches him by surprise, knocking him back nearly twenty feet and it's only Kahji's use of their wings to launch them into the air that keeps him from sprawling into a heap.

"Get away from him!" Their attacker shouts, a short man with long hair coming to stand between them and the boy and Kahji Da snarls in response.

'We should kill him.' He tells Jaime, once again raising their canons and this time Jaime has to turn them around fully to keep the twin blasts of energy from vaporizing both of the men on the ground.

"Stop that!" He snaps, attempting to put the canons away but his scarab resists him and moves to take aim again. Turning to the long haired man, Jaime can't keep the indignance out of his voice when he asks: "Why would you shoot at us?"

His question seems to draw the man up short and in his ensuing hesitation Kahji lets off a successful blast. It's thwarted when the man flares his hands out toward the ground, a wall of sand rising into the air with a hum of sound that causes Jaime's ears to ring. As the sand begins to fall, two quick blasts follow it. One Jaime narrowly avoids and the other smacks into his chest, sending him crashing to the sand below. By the time he gets his bearings, the man is standing over him with his palm leveled at his chest.

"Stand down." He commands and Jaime wills his armor away before his scarab can retaliate.

'You'll get us both killed.' Kahji Da warns him, but Jaime ignores him and holds up his hands in surrender.

"I'm sitting." He says unnecessarily and the other man looks as if he's torn between being amused or staying on guard against another attack. Finally he settles on curiosity and asks:

"Where are we?"

Jaime looks around at the desert, the only thing visible for miles beyond the ever-present dunes being the ruins of the emergency vessel. "The Kha-Ef-Re desert, about twenty miles north-east of the Osiris settlement."

The man frowns for a moment, fingers tapping against his thigh in a quick tattoo before he nods. "Is there a Spatium outposting on the planet?"

Jaime stares. "An outposting? Here?" The man's face falls and Jaime hurries to give him a more appropriate answer. "The only way to get into contact with the Spatium alliance is through the base on Felicitas." The man, and he really needs a name to label him by, frowns, so Jaime clarifies. "It's this planet's second moon. It's only in orbit close enough to send a signal to a few months out of the year, but with a good enough radio you could send a call up in a week or so. The name's Jaime, by the way."

"Lieutenant Commander Cisco Ramon." The man says, seeming to now realize that he hasn't introduced himself. " Sorry for attacking you."

Jaime shrugs and looks over at the spacecraft. "I think your friend is waking up."

Instantly he's forgotten in the sand, Cisco rushing to the other boy's side as he sits up with a groan. Jaime follows after him, unsure of his welcome, but curious all the same. When he reaches them, Cisco is just helping the other boy to sit up and his voice is laced with as he asks if he's alright.

"I'm fine." The boy says, then immediately negates his statement by throwing up in the sand beside him. "I hit my head on the control console when we ejected." He looks up and startles at the site of Jaime. "Who's that?"

This leads to another round of introductions, during which Jaime learns that the boy's name is Bart and Kahji Da crawls from beneath Jaime's clothes and perches himself of his shoulder. "And this is my scarab, Kahji Da."

"My sensors tell me that you have no weapons beyond your sidearms; how do you make your attacks?" The scarab asks Cisco, ignoring the others completely as Cisco looks at him with surprise. Jaime  does too, not used to Kahji speaking to anyone that wasn't Jaime himself.

"My body produces them." Cisco tells him and the scarab scuttles down Jaime's arm to get a closer look.

"If I were to take off your arms, would it still work?" He asks and Cisco recoils from the metal insect as if he means to try. Through their link, Jaime feels the scarabs satisfaction at the man's fear and hastens to shove him into his pocket.

"Sorry, he's not good around people." He says, before looking out at the desert. "I can show you back to the settlement, but it'll probably take us till nightfall. If we're out when the sun goes down over the horizon, we'll likely freeze."

It's not much of an option, Cisco knows, especially given that Bart still looks nauseous at the thought of moving, but staying put will kill them since the pod used up all it's power on the descent through the atmosphere. Tugging his bottom lip between his teeth, he considers their options.

"I can keep up with you if you're flying and the pod has enough material that I can fashion something for Bart to use. Our only problem is a power source to keep him moving."

"What about my frisbee?" Bart asks, pulling a broken collection of metal and wire from his pocket. "It got crushed on the way over, but it has an infinite battery life as far as the warranty claims"

Taking the preferred bit of tech, Cisco disappears into the pod and rummages around for the toolbox that comes standard issue with the vessel. He finds it wedged beneath the first pilot chair and drags it out, nearly sneezing at the dust that gets all over him. He's already taking the frisbee apart further when Jaime and Bart stumble in, the ensign leaning heavily against him as he guides him to a chair. The two of them strike up an easy conversation, leaving Cisco to his work and before long, he's completely lost in the familiar design of making something out of nothing.

✨  ✨  ✨

Ares Cluster  
Fides Galaxy  
SEMS. Star of Gideon

-

Eobard taps his fingers idly against the arm of his chair, gaze traveling over the map of their trajectory. It was a straightforward route, spanning across six galaxies that could be traveled easily at their current pace.

"We'll need to rendezvous with the base in Alpesia to recharge the ship's core." He tells Nora, and the AI dutifully marks the map with a bright orange beacon on the edge of the Justitia galaxy. "Relay an inquiry on the core status to Junior Lieutenant Raymond for me and call Captain Garrick for bridge change."

Nora dips her head in a nod an vanishes. She returns shortly with a frown upon her face, a wholly unknown expression for the AI. "Captain Garrick, requests your presence on E-Deck, sir." She reports and Eobard rises from his chair, leaving the controls to Caitlin with a nod.

The trip down to E-deck is a short one, the intervening floors bypassed by his security code until the doors open on his destination. He follows Nora to where Jay is leaning heavily against a wall for support, face lined with horror as he looks at the docking station of one of the ships emergency pods.

"He took him." He says, voice thick with emotion once he sees Eobard. In all the years they've been stationed together Eobard has only ever seen Jay look as completely destroyed as he does now and that had been nearly a decade ago, his fellow captain's composure crumbling as images of a destroyed First Earth were displayed on the wide screens for all to see. Bart had been the thing to bring Jay through the grief of losing his wife, the boy just as shaken as his guardian but thankfully, miraculously alive.

It's this memory that informs him of Jay's loss in the seconds before he replies, this memory that laces Eobard's voice with steel. "Who took him?"

"Cisco." It's soft but final, hanging in the air between them like a death sentence and Eobard initial reaction is denial. Not Cisco. Not his fourth in command. "I know you don't believe me." Jay continues and Eobard nods.

"There has to be another explanation." He agrees unflinchingly. "In all of the years that he's been under my command, his loyalty has never wavered."

"His family are pirates." Jay reminds him and Eobard knows that the hate in his voice is driven by fear. He practically spits the words and even Nora looks shaken by the anger in them. "Whatever loyalty that he has for you and this ship is nothing compared to that."

"There has to be another explanation." Eobard repeats, remembering quiet nights over chess and the fierce pride on Cisco's face whenever Eobard congratulated him on a training session well done.

His Captain rises stiffly, pausing beside him as he passes. "There better be, because if I find him, I'll execute him for treason myself."

There is only silence after he leaves, broken by the gentle, ever present humming of the ship's engines.

"Nora?" He inquires and the AI appears on his right. "Pull up all data from Cisco's movements on this ship after take off."

"You don’t think he could have betrayed us, do you?" She asks, just as uncertain as he is.

"Regardless of what I think, if he's responsible for Bart's disappearance, he'll be brought before Admiralty and tried for treason…" He pauses. "Is our cargo still in his cell?"

Nora is quiet for a moment, no doubt stretching her senses to the decks below them. "All access to the hold has been restricted."

"On who's orders?" He demands, making for the elevator.

"Lieutenant Commander Cisco Ramon." She replies, a frown marring her brow. "All security feed has been disabled for the last hour. Whatever happened, we're in the dark until we find Bart or Cisco."

Despite how treacherous it feels, Eobard hopes that Cisco is beyond finding, wherever he is. Shaking his head, he steps into the elevator, Nora at his side in a halo of blue light. "Why am I just finding this out now?"

"Someone must have overidden my programming." There's shame coloring her tone when she replies. "I've never felt like this before."

"Vulnerable?"

She shakes her head, arms wrapped around herself instead of stiffly behind her back. "Violated. I've always been in complete control of this ship and now…"

"No one can ever be in complete control of anything in their lives." Eobard tells her as they step on the level of the ship that houses the cargo hold. "It's a part of being human."

"I don’t like being human." Nora says with finality and it's the near childlike shock in her voice that makes Eobard smile despite the circumstances surrounding the confession. The expression is quickly wiped away when he reaches the custom designed cell that's meant to hold their cargo, a pit opening in his stomach when all that greets his eyes is empty darkness.

Hunter Zolomon is no longer in his cage.

✨  ✨  ✨

Qwar Galaxy  
M'arrz  
Kha-Ef-Re Desert

-

By the time Cisco finishes working, Bart has recovered enough to walk the short distance to where he sits, a dubious look crossing his face when he spies his means of transportation.

"They're boots." He points out, painfully obvious.

"Seven league boots." Cisco corrects, hefting one in his hand for a final perusal, wary of any imperfections.  "They'll take you a mile with every step."

"And this will be enough to keep him alongside us?" Kahji Da inquires, just as dubious as Bart, but with an added air of distaste. "They do not look like much."

"Neither do you, you oversized cockroach." Cisco snaps and Jaime sighs as the scarab tries to launch himself as the man, spitting insults all the while. He catches him with effort and shoves him back into his pocket.

"I will flay the skin from your bones, you filthy peasant." Said pocket promises and Jaime looks pained.

"You had to antagonize him?" He asks as Cisco helps Bart strap on his new boots.

"I don't like people insulting my tech."

"You'll like it even less when he shoots you in the face on the way back to the settlement."

"He won't, right?" Bart asks, alarmed and for a moment, the other boy looks flustered.

"I wouldn't let him." He promises and his pocket hisses.

Cisco stares between the two of them, eyebrows climbing as he rises to his feet. It feels almost wrong to interrupt whatever moment they're having, but he's itching to get moving before the sun properly sets. A chill is already invading the air, persistent despite the presence of the sun in the sky.

"Give your boots a try and we'll head out." He tells Bart and the other boy nods, only to pause with his foot in the air.

"This is safe, right?" He asks and Cisco nods.

"Perfectly."

"Oh good, because I--" Whatever Bart is about to saw is swallowed up by a scream as he puts his foot down. He's off like shot, there one moment and gone the next.

"Where'd he go?" Jaime asks, completely dumbfound and Cisco laughs, hands splaying at his sides as a ear-aching hum builds in the air.

"About a mile due north." He replies, launching himself into the air with the force of the vibrations emanating from his palms. Jaime quickly places Kahji   Da on his back, armor encasing his skin and wings beating to keep up.

Suddenly Bart appears below them, a wild grin nearly splitting his face in two. "It works backwards too!"

"I wouldn't --" Jaime warns but the other boy is off again, miles eaten up with just a few steps. Cisco and Jamie follow at a more sedate pace, Kanji watching the young Power warily. Jaime can feel the distrust radiating through their link, but just like all the other time Kahji grew suspicious of strangers, he ignores it.

 Ten miles to the west, Bart crashes into a dune and groans.

…

"You brought visitors." B'arrzz observes when his ward steps into their small home, a Spatium officer and a sand covered Ensign following in his wake. His feelings on the matter are hard to read, but Jaime grew used to his guardian's flat toned apathy years ago.

"Surprise?" He announces and B'arrzz simply stares at the three of them.

"I'll make more tea." The Martian says and waves them to a seat. "Rest. I imagine you've traveled far to get here."

"We actually can't stay long." Cisco tells him, eager to make contact with the ship. "We need to make contact with the Spatium base on Felicitas."

"Fecilitas won't be in radio distance for another month." B'arrzz informs him and Cisco deflates like an old balloon. "Sit. Rest. We'll discuss more serious matters once your young companion doesn’t look ready to collapse. Jaime, find the cups while I heat up more water."

Jaime shuffles quickly to the kitchen area and scrounges up four mugs. Beside him, B'arrzz refills the kettle and spoons out a serving of the red tea leaves that can be found in abundance at the market.

"Armor off in the house please." He says after a moment and Kahji Da retracts back into his solitary form without any further prompting from Jaime. He sniffs at the leaves in disgust before retreating to the cocoon of Jaime's hood. "It seems you had an eventful day."

It's not quite a question but Jaime nods nonetheless. "They crashed in the desert while I was in the market and I figured they'd need somewhere warm to spend the night." He pauses, smudging imaginary grime from one of the mugs with his finger. "They just want to get home."

"I'm not chastising you." B'arrzz says. "Your heart is in the right place."

Jaime thinks of his hope that his parents had finally returned and the disappointment that had waved through him when he realized that they hadn't and isn't so sure. But the whistle of the kettle keeps him from asking, B'arrzz gesturing mutely for him to bring the cups.

Their guests are thankful for the drinks, Bart gulping his down before he makes a pained expression, undoubtedly scalding his throat in his haste. Cisco takes a sip of his own tea before setting the cup to the side and turning to B'arrzz.

"There wouldn't be a chance of you having a functioning radio here, would there?" He asks and the Martian shakes his head.

"Functioning? Yes, but strong enough to reach the second moon? No." B'arrzz tells him

Bart makes a noise to get their attention "We might be able to scavenge the one from the pod."

"Not quick enough to get there and back before sundown. From what I remember, this particular planet's days are half of what we're used to." He says and B'arrzz nods in the affirmative. "Even then, the Gideon could be halfway through another galaxy if the ship maintains it's speed."

His words cast a somber mood over all four of them, the only sound coming through the windows carved through the rock of B'arrzz home. Setting his mug aside, it's the green beetle that interrupts the silence by standing.

"Nothing will be done tonight that cannot be done tomorrow." He nods toward the rock hewn staircase at the opposite side of the room. "Feel free to make use of my bed this evening, Lieutenant Commander. Jaime and your Ensign should be quite comfortable in the second room."

"Where are you going to sleep?" Jaime asks, concern coloring his tone.

"I'll make way, just as I always have." Is B'arrzz's cryptic reply before he leaves the house entirely. Jaime looks after him for several long moment before ushering them toward the staircase.

B'arrzz's room is small but compared to the Spatium quarters that Cisco has grown used to over the years, it's practically massive. He doesn’t have any possessions to set aside, even if he knew where to put them, and simply drapes his coat over the chest at the end of the bed. On top of it goes his energy gun and its holster, his boots placed on the ground in front.

He's not nearly comfortable enough in his remaining clothes to fall asleep, especially in such unfamiliar scenery, but he finds himself drifting off as soon as his head hits the pillow.

✨  ✨  ✨

Andromeda Galaxy  
Second Earth  
Janus Spatium Base

-

If one were to describe Fleet Admiral Wade Eiling, the first word to come to mind would be severe, from the immaculacy of his uniform to the expression gracing his face. He was a hard man, silver hair cropped short and frown lines creasing his face.

Despite these facts, the man on his screen has an aura that puts even the Fleet Admiral on edge.

"According to our agreement, you were supposed to lay low until you reached System Nine." Eiling tells him. "A team would have freed you then."

"Unfortunately, I'm not someone that's overly fond of thumb twiddling." Hunter replies, a pleased smile spreading across his face. "Besides, this is a lot more fun."

Eiling's sighs, tapping the pen in his hand against his desk. His badges glint in the dim light of his office. "And when the Ensign and Eobard's pet Power blow your cover? What then? Don't think you can come crawling to me for help."

At his words, Hunter's smile fades to reveal a look of pure malice. "Then you'll have to get rid of them, won't you?"

"Unofficially." Eiling adds and Hunter shrugs.

"Send a team after them. It's not as if anyone's going to miss the bastard of a back water pirate and a greenie runt."

"And Jay?"

Now the smile is back, glinting like a knife. "I think I can take care of my cousin myself."

"Good." Eiling glances to the side as another call comes in. "Get rid of the Captain and I'll handle the others. And Zolomon?" He waits until he has the mass murderer's full attention. "If you prove to be more of a liability than you are an asset, I will have you neutralized."

With that, he cuts the feed, allowing the next call to come through. He isn't at all surprised to see Eobard's face on the other end. Still, he feigns disbelief when Eobard tells him of Hunter's unknown status and the disappearance of two of his crew.

"With your permission, I'd like to reach out to La Reina." The Prince Captain finishes and Eiling lets sadness take over his features as he shakes his head, as if the answer he's about to give pains him as much as it will the other man.

"I can't allow you to do that."

"With all due respect, sir, if Cisco has in fact betrayed us, he wouldn't have done it of his own accord. He's smart," Eobard adds, and Eiling has no doubt that the Lieutenant Commander is, but if he has any chance of getting rid of him and the Ensign quietly, he can't allow Thawne to post an inquiry to the boy's mother.

"My answer is still no. You'd do much better to exhaust your efforts looking for your missing cargo, than a pirate's son." Eiling reminds him and the Prince Captain clenches his jaw and nods. "I'll set a team to monitor communications in the nearby galaxies. If we find him or Allen, you'll be the first to know."

He ends the call before Eobard can do  much more than nod and sends a brief message to one of the elite teams stationed on the outskirts of the Fides galaxy with explicit directions to eradicate any loose ends that Hunter will have caused with his impatience. If they have any objections to hunting down Spatium personal, they don’t share it. The Captain of the squad only nods his affirmative and leaves to tell his men to gear up. 


	3. Part III: The Radio

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which, Eobard talks to a queen, Barry gets dating advise from an AI, Cisco goes shopping, and Jaime cries.

**Ares Cluster**

**Numera Galaxy**

**SEMS Star of Gideon**

- 

 

Nora watches as Eobard taps his fingers against the arm of his chair. It's a familiar, wholly human gesture and the only thing that belies his anger is the tightness of his jaw. All is quiet beyond the ever present hum of the ship's engines, a lullaby recognized by nearly ever Spatium officer, from Ensign to Admiral.  It's a sound that Nora has known all her life, yet sometimes it feels unfamiliar, as if she should know more. 

It's a quick of her design, she knows. Echoes of memories that Henry had given her of her namesake and sometimes she hates it, this feeling of not being wholly herself. But other times, when she looks at Nora and Henry's son, she feels complete. 

"Nora?"  

"I'm here." She says, breaking from her thoughts. 

Eobard looks at her and the expression on his face is not quite a smile, a twitch of his lips. "Pull up Cisco's file and send an encrypted greeting to La Reina Ramon." 

She nods and does as he asks, joining him on his right when the screen in his office flickers and reveals the face of the pirate queen. 

"Prince Captain Thawne," she greets, dipping her head in what can only be called a regal nod. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" 

"A well check." Eobard replies, words just as carefully political as her own. It's the first time he's ever spoken to her after Cisco had signed onto the service, and Nora can tell he's unsure of how to break the news of her son's disappearance.  

In the end, he doesn’t need to. 

"What happened to my son?" Despite the challenge in her voice, her expression stays neutral and Nora imagines that it must be some latent maternal instinct that allows her to pick up on the true fear behind the question. 

"I was hoping that you would know." Eobard tells her and the pirate queen frowns.  

"I haven't seen or heard from him since he started Academy training." Her voice is bitter and accusing when she continues, "Your Fleet Admiral made sure that he'd be punished if he was caught speaking to me or his brothers. You know this." 

Eobard nods, then sighs. "Cisco has disappeared along with our cargo and one of our escape pods." 

"How long?" La Reina demands and Eobard glances at the clock on the wall.  

"Twelve hours." 

"And this cargo you mentioned; is it valuable?" 

Eobard shakes his head. "Not in the least." When La Reina remains quiet, he continues, heedless of if the identity of their cargo is confidential or not. If he cared, he wouldn’t have made this call in the first place. "We were tasked with transporting Hunter Zolomon to a remote prison in System Nine." 

" _¡Chingados!_ " La Reina spits out the curse with such vehemence that Eobard nearly startles. "That psychopath has my son?!" 

"We don’t know that for sure." He begins, only to be cut off by another curse. 

"If he is not there on the ship and neither is my son, then what do you think happened?" She asks, voice rising. "That he's hiding out in the air ducts?" 

"I didn’t call you to argue." Eobard tells her, voice firm. "I've been told by Admiralty to finish my mission, which means I can't sacrifice the resources to look for Cisco. If Zolomon is still on this ship, we'll find him." 

"I already have." Jay cuts in from the doorway and Eobard glances over. "He was unconscious in the Ceres." 

"And Cisco?" Eobard demands, ignoring the frown that graces Jay's face. 

"No sign of him or my… of Bart. Wherever they are, It's certainly not on this ship."  

"I'll find them." La Reina says, cutting the call before either of the captains can get a word in. 

"Take me to him." Eobard commands, already shrugging back into his coat.  

Their walk is a quiet one, strides swift and nearly silent besides the tap of their boots against the polished floor. Nora keeps pace with them easily, graceful as she keeps her place at Eobard's right. They pass E-deck and Nora spares a glance toward the missing dock for the ship's twenty-third escape pod, a frown marring her face as the feeling of vulnerability from earlier comes creeping back. 

In the end, she's glad for the call that comes from the bridge, a ping that appears in her vision and causes her to pause. "Lieutenant Allen is requesting my presence on the bridge." She explains when Eobard slows his pace to look back at her. 

"See what he needs." He tells her. "Jay and I will be fine." 

 It's a clear dismissal as any and one that's she's glad for as she stretches her consciousness to the bridge. When she arrives, Barry is the only crew member in sight, leaning so far forward in his chair that his head is nearly touching his knees.  

"Are you alright?" She asks and he jerks up, a smile gracing his face once be sees her. It fades quickly, replaced with a frown that tugs at a part of her consciousness.  

"Yeah, I… I needed some advise and you were the first person that I could think of with… with Cisco gone." He trails off, swallowing as his voice goes thick with emotion. "Jay says that he found Hunter, but there's still no sign of Cisco or Bart…" 

"You're worried that they won't come back." She supplies when he seems at a loss for words and he nods gratefully. 

"He was supposed to be there for me when I proposed." He tells her and Nora experiences that odd feeling again, as if she should hug him even though she can't. She's never had the desire to be human, never wanted anything but to watch over her ship and be near Henry's son. It strikes her now that even though she isn't his mother, she's watched him grow just the same. Five years have passed since he and Cisco were assigned  to the Gideon as ensigns.  Barry's no longer the awkward and clumsy boy that he had been and now, now he's planning to propose to the love of his life and she's the one that he turns to.  

"Your two year anniversary with Iris is coming up." She tells him and it may be the echo of Nora's memories within her programming that causes the mixture of love and pride to swell in her chest. 

"That's when I," He clears his throat. "That's when I was planning to ask." It's such a cliché idea that Cisco had jumped at it with enthusiasm, promising to help with getting the two alone together long enough for Barry to pop the question. Cisco had already called dibs on being Barry's best man and offered to help pay for the wedding, given that he had a near fortune's worth of currency behind his name thanks to Queen La Reina.  

But now none of that seems to matter because Cisco is gone. 

"If I know Cisco as well as I think I do, I'd say that he'd still want you to propose." Nora cuts into his thoughts softly. "Eobard has already contacted Cisco's mother to aid in finding him and Bart." 

Barry's head jerks up at that, eyes going wide. "He talked to La Reina?" 

Nora nods and sits in one of the chairs beside him. "We'll find him either way." She lets him take whatever comfort he can from her words and when, after a moment, he gives a decisive nod, she knows that he's made the right decision. 

 

…  

 

When Eobard and Jay arrive to the cargo hold, Hunter is still unconscious, his body ungracefully slumped against the polished plating of his cell. They're designed to withstand the abilities of a Power, no matter how strong, and for a moment Eobard imagines Cisco in one, completely cut off from a fundamental component of his DNA, and shudders. Luckily it's Hunter in front of him and not his fourth in command, which allows him to be almost completely objective to their prisoner's comfort.  

"I stunned him when I found him lurking around." Jay admits sheepishly and Eobard hums. 

"He didn’t have anything to say about Cisco or Bart?" He asks, arching an eyebrow when his captain rubs the back of his neck. 

"I didn't exactly ask." 

"Ah," Eobard returns his gaze to Hunter. "We'll have to ask once he's awake." 

"If it's alright, I'd like to be the one to do it." Jay volunteers, rushing to explain: "Bart's all I have left and if… if he killed him, I don’t want to hear about it secondhand." 

"As soon as you're done speaking to him, you'll relay the conversation to me." Eobard orders. "Every word, Jay. I want to know how he got out,  if he's responsible for Cisco and Bart's disappearance, and  especially how he got Cisco's clearance codes." 

"You don’t think someone on the inside helped him, do you?" Jay's question is incredulous and despite the bad taste it leaves in his mouth, Eobard is not above suspecting one of their own. Someone as dangerous as Hunter doesn't just stumble free and there are reasons that none of the lower level officers were informed of their mission parameters until after they left the base.  

This leaves a select few people that could have allied themselves with Zolomon and Eobard plans on narrowing down that list as soon as possible. 

 

✨✨✨  

 

**Qwar Galaxy**

**M'arzz**

**Kha-Ef-Re Desert**  

- 

 

Bart wakes to the feeling of something falling into the bed beside him and when he turns his head to the side, he's met with the image of blue and black armor.  

"Uh, Jaime?" He asks and the other boy presses his face further into the pillows before groaning and opening vibrant yellow eyes.  

"Breakfast is downstairs." Is all he says before falling back to sleep. Untangling himself from the blankets, Bart shuffles to the bottom of the bed and off, a smile gracing his face when his vacated spot is immediately taken up as Jaime rearranges himself. 

Cisco is already eating when he arrives and B'arrzz hands him a bowl of oatmeal and a fruit that Bart has never seen before but when he bites into it it tastes like a peach. 

"I was just telling your commander that Jaime and I retrieved your ship while you were sleeping." B'arrzz tells him in between sips of tea. "If you'd like I can take you into the market for whatever parts you may need after I rest." 

Cisco swallows the bite in his mouth. "That would be great, thank you." He says and B'arrzz nods, placing his cup in the sink before retreating up the stairs. 

"I was thinking about modifying my boots to go shorter distances." Bart says in the ensuing silence and Cisco grins.  

"I can get you the tools if you go with me to the ship. I'll need the company."  

Morning planned, they both focus on eating then go their separate ways to get dressed. Despite their height difference, Bart fits into the spare clothes that Jaime seems to have laid out for him. He has to roll up the cuffs of the pants and the sleeves are a little long, but he certainly fairs better than Cisco, who meets him downstairs in a shirt that nearly engulfs him. 

"The pants were out of the question." Cisco tells him and Bart sees that he's still wearing half of his uniform. His snicker isn't hidden very well, but once again Cisco's laid back attitude prevails and he simply laughs with him. 

 

… 

 

"This is hopeless." Cisco announces an hour later as he hoists himself out of the escape pod, a fine layer of sweat making his skin shine. "The oxygenater used whatever battery life we had and fried the radio in the process. I'll have to scrap most of it and rebuild it." 

"Will the signal be strong enough to reach the base?" Bart asks, setting aside his boots for a moment. 

"Depends on what's available at the market and even then, we won't know until we make contact." Cisco answers with a sigh.  

"We can always build a stronger radio." Bart offers. "I'm not an engineer but my… Jay taught me some stuff when he wasn't tour" They're both silent for a moment, then Bart asks quietly: "Do you think they're okay? The crew, I mean, with Hunter free…" 

"Eobard's smart." Cisco tells him. "If he doesn’t notice anything amiss immediately, our disappearance would have clued him in. They'll be looking for us." 

They're the best comfort that Cisco can offer. Just as Eobard is smart, so is Hunter and although it pains him to admit, the murderer almost certainly isn't working alone. A prisoner as heavily guarded as Zolomon is wouldn't have stumbled upon the clearance codes of a higher ranking officer assigned to the ship transporting him by accident or luck.  

It strikes him now, that Hunter being assigned to their ship at all, a ship who's Captain is not only his cousin, but nigh on his twin, was a stroke of near unprecedented luck, if not design, and there are few positions below that of the Fleet Admiral that could have arranged matters so perfectly. He doesn't share his thoughts though, given that there's nothing either of them can do about it at the moment. Once their back on the Gideon, he can raise his suspicions to Eobard. 

Neither of them strike up conversation again, too lost in their own thoughts to bother. Cisco climbs back into the pod and presses himself to the ground in order to get under the control console and into the innards of their radio. Every now and then he crawls out for a tool or to get a drink of water from the house. Bart relocates himself into the shade that the wall affords, his bottom lip caught between his teeth as he labors over his boots. When the sun reaches its apex in the sky, he gives a victorious hoot and pulls them on.  

Cisco pauses on his way back to watch the ensign take his first step and bursts into laughter when Bart only travels five feet.  

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up, Mr Protégé." Bart says, a scowl fixed upon his face and Cisco only laughs harder. It seems to break a dam in him, his mirth making it hard to breath.  

"You need to tweak the distance modulator, not the power supply." He finally manages. "Lowering your power output isn't going to do anything but throw off the balance of your energy circuit."  

He winds up showing Bart what he means, removing the heel so he can get at the modulator without taking everything apart. He shows Bart how to dial it down using a pair of pliers and adds an extra layer of shock  absorbing plating to keep the circuit from getting damaged when Bart runs. He has him try it out, logging the ensign's time on his watch while Bart zooms back and forth. 

"How far'd you go?" He asks once Bart gets back from his latest run. 

Bart plops down on the sand next to him and wipes the sweat off his brow. "A couple miles. I found an abandoned merchant ship. It looks like it crashed, but I didn’t go inside to look." 

"There's plenty of those out there." Jaime offers from the doorway of the house and they both start. "Sometimes I explore them when I'm bored. They get lost in the magnetic currents of the planet since it shifts every couple days and causes desert storms, but most of the merchant ships that visit here have updated their systems to get around it by now." 

"Oh," Is all Bart says, but Cisco can tell he's curious.  

"You can go check it out if Jaime doesn't mind." Cisco offers and Jaime shakes his head when he looks at him. 

"I don’t mind." He looks to the horizon. "We're not due for a storm for another week." 

Offer made, Bart checks the laces on his boots and stands. "Race you?" He asks before taking off and Jaime's laugh is lost as his armor springs to life, his wings launching him into the air. 

"It's good that he has someone his age to be around." B'arrzz says as he joins Cisco, gaze intent on the diminishing spec of Jaime flying after Bart. 

"Bart certainly thinks so." Cisco says, moving to stand beside the Martian. "I thought he'd be torn up over Jay, but I think having something to do is keeping it at bay for a while longer." 

"And how are you fairing?" B'arrzz inquires, causing Cisco to pause in his trek back to the pod.  

"I haven't really let myself think about it. Besides, there's not much I can do other than try to get back and breaking down over my predicament isn't going to help that happen." 

For a moment B'arrzz simply looks at him, eyes searching his before he nods once, decisive. "No, it will not." He agrees. "I can take you to the market now if you'd like. You can get the parts you need and a better fitting shirt." 

Cisco looks down at his borrowed shirt and flushes. The loose fitting fabric makes him look particularly childlike, now that he thinks about it. Still, "All of my money is in my military account." 

"We may be isolated compared to other planets, but I'm sure the merchants will be able to pull up your account if need be. Did you need a tablet to write down your purchases?" 

Cisco shakes his head. "No, I should remember everything." He tells him, falling into step with the taller man as he leads the way. The market isn't far and unlike the mental image of fabric draped awnings  over stalls that Cisco had in mind, it turns out to be a cavernous adobe building, with plenty of skylight windows that allow the natural light of the sun in. In every direction he looks, there are bolts of vibrantly dyed fabrics and intricately designed porcelain in vases, bowls, and a conglomerate of cookware. B'arrzz leads him through it with ease, occasionally bowing out of the way for women draped in violet and royal blue fabric with gold armbands. 

"They're guards." B'arrzz explains when he asks. "The Daughters of the Desert, they're the descendants of the nomads that first settled here."  

"Are they Powers?" Cisco asks, looking after one as she passes. 

"Some of them, yes. They'll have thicker gold bands than the others." B'arrzz explains and Cisco's eyes widen. Most of the women have thick bands, only two that he counts with slim bangle-like rings of gold looping around their upper arms. He's never seen so many Powers concentrated in one place before, he and his brothers being three of very few people with them in his homeland. Finding them in the Spatium ranks is even more rare, given the extensive training they're meant to go through just to qualify with the other officers. 

Suddenly he's pulled from his thoughts as B'arrzz stops beside a shop front with electronics arranged on shelves, nearly covering every wall. The boy sitting on a chair in the middle of the shop looks up from the comm-pad he's picking apart and greets them with a smile. 

"What can I do for you?" He asks, B'arrzz acting as a translator when it turns out that he doesn't know Second Earth English or Ramoni. Nevertheless, Cisco relays his list to him, occasionally pausing to point at a part that he sees in the stall. They end up having most of them, all except the crystal oscillator and the impedance matching circuit.  

When he asks for them, the boy pauses for a moment, then turns to poke his head into the back room of the shop and shouts "Aba!" 

A few moments later an older man comes out and listens to Cisco's request with a look of concentration. "I can order them and have them by the end of the week." He tells him in accented English. "F'asshirr can help you bring the rest to your home."  

"It would be much appreciated." B'arrzz tells him. "How much do we owe?" 

The shopkeeper turns to Cisco with a critical eye. "You are Ramoni, no?" He asks and Cisco nods. "For a prince, it is free. I only wish to thank you for your business." 

"But I have money." Cisco objects, well aware that the pieces he'd get today alone are well worth a thousand units, if not more due to the special order. But the older man will hear none of it, waving off Cisco's objections with a unaffected air. In the end Cisco settles on six hundred and still feels as if he's cheated the man, but the shopkeeper merely laughs. 

"Your mother once helped me fend off a band of the Reach while traveling through her system. You have her eyes, I can tell, but you are not one of her eldest sons." 

"The youngest." Cisco tells him, somewhat faint at the idea that his mother's influence has reached so far from home, but the merchant's smile only widens to a grin.  

"Ah, the officer!" He exclaims and turns to his son. " _Shay! Adhhb!_ You will stay for some tea, I hope." He adds in English as the boy disappears into the back. 

They take up the offer gratefully, the shopkeeper, whose name is R'sshiiv, regaling them with the tale of La Reina fending off a Reach vessel that had tried to commandeer him a few months prior.  

"I had thousands worth of cargo on board." He adds. "A near fortune and they would have taken all of it if not for your mother. All that she asked me for was an energy crystal." 

"An energy crystal?" Cisco asks and R'sshiiv nods.  

"For your brother's scythe, I believe. His own was cracked, completely useless, so I gave him another, a red one from the mines in K'adiz." 

"Are they still near the system?" He asks hopefully, but R'sshiiv only shrugs. 

"I'm afraid I don’t know. This was some time ago." And his family could be anywhere, Cisco finishes the thought. 

"Thank you for your time." He finally says, finishing his tea before he stands. "And the supplies. If you ever need a pass for trade in the Second Earth territories, I'd be glad to offer it." 

"And I would be glad to accept. Stop by when you are ready to bring your purchase back with you." 

They assure him that they will, once again thanking him for his hospitality before continuing on to the rest of the market. Cisco buys clothing for himself and Bart, who he approximates the size for. Most of it he buys in the standard light grey of the Spatium uniform, but a deep hooded black shirt catches his eye in the last stall they visit. It resembles a tunic in length, the fabric soft and breathable despite the long sleeves and the yellow and red detailing along the shoulders and sides reminds him achingly of his home. He adds it to his purchases along with a couple pairs of pants and a ring with a backwards lightning bolt that reminds him of Eobard, given that it's the image on his standard as a Prince Captain. 

They stop by the first shop on their way out and F'asshirr joins them with the parts that they need for the radio. Cisco tips him generously, still somewhat guilty over the price for the parts and the boy thanks them heartily before making his way back toward the market. 

Once he sorts out his and Bart's clothes, he leaves the ensigns things on Jaime's bed and showers before changing into the hooded shirt and a pair of plain black pants. It fits him much better than B'arrzz's clothes had and he feels a lot more comfortable for it. By the time he ties his hair up and makes his way downstairs, Bart and Jaime are back, covered in a fine layer of sand and scarfing down sandwiches as if they're starved. 

Cisco joins them in eating and listens to Bart recount the condition of the shipwreck between bites. Apparently they'd come across a First Earth freighter, an F-182, if his description is accurate and although It's nearly four decades old, Cisco knows that it'll most likely have a radio strong enough to reach the base. 

"Did you find anything useful?" He asks, hope curling in his chest.  

"We didn’t take much of a look around." Bart admits after he finishes his third sandwich. "It's half buried in the sand, so we didn’t want to risk anything collapsing." 

"We were thinking about exploring what we could once we get some supplies." Jaime adds and B'arrzz nods. 

"I should have a support rod in my things if you feel it would be useful. In the interim, Cisco and I will work on the radio." 

"You got all the parts you needed?" Bart asks eagerly. A part of Jaime recoils at his tone, a reminder that as soon as they get in contact with the base, they'll be gone and it'll just be he and B'arrzz again.  

But Cisco shakes his head, dispelling the idea as quickly as it had come. "Most of it, the rest will come in a week or so." 

Bart visibly deflates, a soft "Oh" falling from his lips and Jaime feels guilty for wanting their stay to last as long as possible. Bart and Cisco are stuck here with no guarantee that their friends and family are safe and no way to communicate with anyone they love. He remembers how he felt when he woke to find his family gone, lightyears of space separating them from each other, and the desert lending a sense of empty desolation. B'arrzz had been his saving grace, someone willing to take him in and help him adjust to life here on M'arzz and there are still days that the loss of his family is like a physical ache, consuming whatever happiness and contentment he may be feeling.  

If Bart is feeling the same way, It's his job to make him feel better, right? Like B'arrzz had done for him? 

 

… 

 

He takes Bart to the ship every day for the next week. After the first couple of days, Cisco gives up on hoping for a piece of technology to be discovered that will complete the radio. The ship is decades old, whatever secrets it holds either swept away by sand or decayed by time. Still, Bart explores it with growing glee, face lighting up with adventurous spirit whenever they unearth a new corridor. When they finally find the bridge with its antiquated control panels, Bart looks near angelic with excitement and Jaime realizes that if Bart asked him to, he'd leave the Desert behind and follow him to the ends of the galaxy.  

The thought startles him so much that he lapses into silence, humming whenever Bart asks him a question and finally the other boy stops and looks at him, eyes bright in the light of the glow rods they're using to see this deep under the dunes. 

"Are you okay?" He asks and Jaime doesn't know how to answer. He looks out the reinforced pyrex barrier of the bridge's main viewpoint, for once wishing that Kahji Da would offer up his own thoughts. But the beetle has been mostly quiet concerning whatever this jumbled mess of feelings toward Bart is. 

"I came here with my family when I was thirteen." He finally says and Bart looks startled, lips parting slightly as if to speak and Jamie hurries on. "I got in an argument with my parents about watching my little sister our second day here. She was so small and slow and I just wanted to get out and explore everything, not be stuck babysitting a six year old." His throat tightens, heat gathering behind his eyes. What must Milagro remember of him? That he hadn't wanted to be around her? That he had considered her a burden? "It was the worst fight we ever had, the first time I ever remember my parents truly being angry with me. So I left the inn and went to explore the Desert, convinced myself that I needed space to calm down. I didn’t realize I was lost until the sun started to set. Out in the dunes… It all looks the same. The only thing in sight for miles was a rock formation in the distance. I used it to get out of the sun and that's where I found Kahji Da. His previous… companion was buried beneath my feet, but all I saw was a pretty beetle." 

"You do have terrible survival instincts for something that can be so easily killed." Kahji Da says, emerging from the folds of Jamie's shirt, but his voice holds a hint of fondness. 

"When Kahji and I… became one, the pain was so bad that it knocked me out. I don’t know for how long, but I woke up in B'arrzz's home a week after he found me. I guess it didn’t really matter. My family was gone, lightyears away, and I was stuck here, trapped in a living suit of armor with no one that I knew to rely on. In the beginning I used to wonder if they had looked for me or if they thought I'd run away and now… Now I guess it doesn’t matter."  

"Jamie," Bart says his name in a whisper and Jamie rubs his sleeve across his eyes. Then, suddenly, there are arms wrapping around him and a chest pressed against his, causing his breathing to shudder in a sob. Bart simply tightens his hold, ignoring the disgruntled noise Kahji makes as he squashed between them, and presses his face into Jamie's shoulder. He doesn’t say anything for a while and Jamie is grateful for it. Any words of comfort right now might break him and he isn't at all prepared to put the pieces back together again like he had before. Instead, he hugs Bart back and lets the tears flow, cleansing the old wound of his family's memories for the first time in nearly a decade. Then Bart lets out a yelp, flinching back as he swats a hand between them and sends Kahji tumbling to the ground. 

"You bit me!" He sounds scandalized, rubbing at his stomach as Kahji rights himself with a huff. 

"Neither of you seemed to realize you were crushing me." The beetle points out. "I took matters into my own hands. Besides, I didn’t bite you." He clicks his mandibles together. "I pinched you." 

"We can't crush you!" Bart argues. "You're metal." 

"I'm sure that crossed your--" Kahji stops mid sentence, small body angling up toward the ceiling. Jaime and Bart follow his gaze as the entire ship creaks, the unmistakable thud of footsteps sounding against the floor above them. Then Kahji is a flurry of movement and scuttling legs, disappearing into the folds of Jamie's clothes as the beam of a flashlight floods the bridge. 

"Bart, move!" Jaime shouts as armor envelops his body and then there's a body covering his own as a loud concussion floods through the room, making his ears ring. He scrambles for his boots, fingers fumbling over the activation mechanism until his mind catches up with him and he realizes that using the boots in an enclosed room would be a bad idea. Letting a curse tumble from his lips he ducks from behind Jamie and grabs the support rod that B'arrzz lent them, thumb flicking over the button that extends it to it's full length. A quick swing sends it crashing into the hands of the man facing him, knocking the gun from his hand and forcing a pained curse from his mouth that Bart is relieved he can actually hear. Bart snaps it up into his throat, pushing him into the mercenary beside him and sending their aim away from Jamie.  A canon blast sounds over his shoulder, followed by a devastating pulse of energy that engulfs two of their attackers, instantly vaporizing them. It nearly makes him freeze, but he shakes his head and pushes his shock aside in favor of slamming the support rod into gap of one of the mercenaries helmets, cracking his head back with enough force to knock him unconscious. Then there's the report of a gun going off, loud and old, like the rifles used before energy crystals were fully utilized. He doesn’t see the shot until it hits Jamie, pitching him back with enough force that he smacks into the wall behind him and drops to his knees. 

"Titan Two, contact. Wait out." The newcomer says into her radio, racking another round into the chamber as she aims her rifle at Bart and he doesn't think, activating his boots with a quick flick of his fingers and taking a step forward. The world slows around him for a handful of seconds and he brings his staff up, knocking the woman's gun aside and whipping around to hit her again. The force of the support rod hitting her at such a high speed shatters her helmet like glass and sends her into the far wall with a wet _thunk_ that makes Bart's stomach churn. Then time rights itself and he's standing over a woman's body with a bloody staff held in shaking hands. Her radio crackles to life with a question of her status but Bart ignores it, deactivating his boots and stumbling his way to Jaime. He drops to his knees and helps the other boy up as his faceplate retracts and he drags in lungfuls of air.  

"I'm okay, I'm okay." Jaime gasps, hands pushing Bart back a little and Bart realizes that he's crowding him. "Kahji, I can't-" He swallows, clearly panicked, and his armor retracts fully. "Thank you." 

"You're too exposed." Kahji grumbles and Jamie chuckles. Bart tries not to wince at the note of hysteria that he hears in the sound and instead stands up again, attention drawn to the radio as the tinny sound of a fire fight fills the bridge. Standing, Bart runs over to one of the fallen mercenaries and snatches their radio free of their combat vest.  

"Titan Five, contact." He begins, recalling that elite teams like this are normally only made up of eight highly trained members. "Report." 

There's a moment of dead air, then: "Titan One, contact. Send out." 

Letting out a sigh, Bart sends a quick thank you out to the universe and presses down the transmission out button. "Targets terminated. Awaiting orders. Return or wait out?" 

"Return, Titan Five." Titan One cuts the transmission and Bart goes back to Jamie, offering a supporting shoulder as the taller boy gets to his feet.  

"We don’t have long before whoever their team leader realizes that I'm not his guy, if he hasn’t already." Bart tells him and Jaime nods, armor sliding into place again as he steadies himself. Bart isn't sure how much his newfound control is due to Kahji Da, but he's glad for it as they make their way through the ship and up into the world above. The setting sun is sending swaths of gold and red across the sky and for a moment he's shocked by how much time has passed. Then he shakes his head and releases Jamie so that he can activate his boots again.  

"Race you home?" He asks and the other boy nods, wings springing from his back as he launches himself into the air. It only takes a handful of minutes to get back to B'arrzz's home, but when he does, Bart has to throw himself into a hard stop, lungs choking on the acrid black smoke that's billowing out of the small building.  

"Cisco!" He calls, covering his nose and mouth with his arm as Jamie lands beside him. He uses his heel to hit the switch on his boots and runs forward, pushing past the remains of the front door, eyes tearing up as he searches for any movement whatsoever. What he gets is so unexpected that his mind doesn’t process the scythe swinging toward him through the smoke until a vibration blast halts it midair. Suddenly, Cisco is standing in front of him like a shield, hand outstretched as the percussions of his vibe sends the smoke scattering to the edges of the room, revealing a man dressed in red and black armor.  

"Cisco?" The man asks, voice laced with confusion. 

"Armando?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translations:
> 
> "Shay! Adhhb!" -- "Tea! Go!" in Arabic  
> "¡Chingados!" -- "Fuck" in Spanish, colloquially
> 
> Of course feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.


	4. Part IV: The Pirate

Justitia Galaxy 

Alpesia Base Outer Ring 

SEMS Star of Gideon

... 

 

Jay wakes with a groan, the sound dragging itself from a chest that feels tight with discomfort. Whatever he's laying on is far from comfortable, the surface cold and unyielding. Cracking an eye open, he's met with the faint glow of an energy field in front of what he knows js reinforced trans-pyrex. A holding cell for Powers, practically impenetrable and something that he's never seen from the inside before.  

There's a tapping against the glass that causes spears of agony to shoot through his head, body curling into itself as saliva floods his mouth.  

"Stop."  His voice is weak. So much so, that he barely recognizes it. 

"Now where would be the fun in that?" A voice asks, close but far away at the same time. He doesn't recognize it immediately, muffled as it is through the trans-pyrex and hum of the energy field.  

Then: "Hunter?" 

"Hey there little cousin." Hunter says, voice light and happy. The emotion doesn’t reach his eyes, which are flat and calculating. He dressed in Spatium grey, Jay's uniform, with his hands behind his back and a small smile on his face. "It took you long enough to wake up." 

"A repulsar blast to the head will do that." Jay says blandly, struggling to sit up with a body that doesn’t want to cooperate. "I know you didn't come here to gloat." 

"Not quite." Hunter's tone changes completely, happy demeanor vanishing as if it was a figment of Jay's imagination. "We're going to be in the orbit of the Alpesia base tomorrow and I plan on being long gone by the time they figure out that you're not me." 

"And you expect me to play along?"  

Hunter simply studies him for a moment, head tilting to the side as if in thought. "I do." 

Jay scoffs. "You're insane." 

"And you're forgetting something awfully important, little cousin." He pauses and when Jay doesn't answer, he frowns as if disappointed. "Come now. You must remember that you weren't the only one that came to check on me that day. Remember your little shadow? My… nephew, is he?" 

Something in Jay goes cold, shuddering and wilting at the mention of Bart. "What did you do?" He can't have taken him away too, not after Joan. "Hunter, what did you do?" 

"I sent him on a bit of a trip." Hunter crouches down so that their eyes are level. "He's somewhere safe but he won't stay that way for long if you don’t agree to help me. So what will it be, Bart's life or my freedom?" 

He leaves the question in the air between them, a choice solely up to Jay's discretion. But it's not as simple as Hunter has laid out the terms to be. By negotiating Bart's life for Hunter's escape into the general populace again, he could be putting countless lives at risk, billions of lives that could be wiped out just like they had been on Earth One, not to mention his own life would be forfeit for the act of treason letting Hunter go would be.  

Closing his eyes, Jay thinks back onto Joan. What would she have done in this situation? What was more important to him, the life of his son or the unknown people that Hunter could kill if he went free? Joan doesn’t offer him an answer, only a smile pulled from the most precious part of his memory.  

He opens his eyes and Hunter is regarding with a face that is identical to his own. 

"What will it be little cousin?" 

 

✨✨✨  

Qwar Galaxy 

M'arzz  

Kha-Ef-Re Desert  

… 

 

Bart looks between Cisco and the man with the scythe as the two talk in hushed tones a few feet away. They've relocated to the house of a man named R'sshiiv, a shopkeeper in town that serves them tea with a smile and looks devastated to hear about the destruction of B'arrzz's home.  

"A shame." Bart hears him mumble as he takes the serving tray into another room, trailed closely by his son. B'arrzz had taken his earlier condolences with grace, but now sits silently, cradling a cooling mug of  Qatari with a frown. Jamie is equally quiet beside him, Kahji Da perched in the hollow of his right collarbone in what Bart assumes is a comforting gesture. Sometime during their silent vigil, Jamie had reached out and placed a hand on B'arrzz arm and it's still there now, offering support in the face of B'arrzz's loss.  

His attention is draw away from the beetles by Cisco, who turns away from Armando with a weighted breath and runs a hand through his hair. Armando follows at a more sedate pace, until he's standing before B'arrzz with his hands hung loosely at his sides.  

"We'll pay for the damage to your home." He says in a tone that Bart remembers from Jay's comm-link calls with various diplomats.  

"The physical damage can be repaired easily enough." B'arrzz tells him. "Thank you for the kind offer." 

"Not to be rude," Jamie begins, looking pointedly at the scythe still in Armando's hand. "But who are you?" 

For a moment Armando looks surprised, the expression quickly followed by a look of sadness before being replaced by a smile. "Prince Armando Ramon of the Outer Rim Ramoni Clan at your service." He introduces himself and Bart nearly chokes on his own tongue. 

"You're Cisco's brother?!" He asks, incredulous and Armando's smile turns genuine. 

"One of them. The other one is parking the ship." He beams and Cisco presses the palm of his hand to his forehead with a sigh.  

"Please tell me you didn’t entrust our only transportation out of here to Dante." He groans and Armando laughs. 

"He makes a good copilot now that he's actually completed his training…" Armando's smile quirks to the side. "And learned not to blow out the engines every time he goes into hyperspace." 

"I'm hurt. Truly." A voice says from the doorway leading to the outer rooms of the house and R'sshiiv pops his head out from behind a man with cropped hair dressed in the same colors as Armando.  

"Almazin min alshaay?" He asks before bowing his head to the three princes and disappearing again. He's replaced by a short woman dressed in what Bart can only described as a hooded jumpsuit with a skirt, also in Ramoni colors. She follows the other man into the room and waits patiently for him to give Cisco a hug before giving him one as well then, much to the surprise of everyone, hauls back and slaps him.  

"That's for leaving without telling me, asshole." She says before pulling him into another hug and Cisco let's out a squawk of indignation.  

"I told you!" He protests and the woman levels him with an arch look. 

"You left a holotape bonded to my door. That's not exactly a face to face." She looks at the others in the room. "My name is Cynthia and that's Dante." 

Dante waves when she points to him and Cisco looks a little gobsmacked, whether from the slap or-- 

"You're married?" He asks incredulously, staring at Dante's wrist.  

"Engaged." Dante corrects. "The marriage rites won't be preformed for another year." 

"To who?!" 

"That'd be me." Cynthia volunteers, flashing her own cuff. 

"Believe me, none of us saw it coming." Armando adds in an undertone and Dante shoots him a dirty look. 

"Not that discussing my shortcomings isn't fun, but we have a ship to get to and a mass murderer to stop." Dante interrupts, immediately sobering everyone in the room. B'arrzz, who had kept his peace until now, rises and beckons for Jamie to follow him. Bart watches the two leave, wondering if he should follow, but ultimately deciding to let them have some time to themselves. He just hopes that they'll be back in time for him to say goodbye. 

Instead he follows Cisco and his brothers out to their ship, a mid-sized fighter reminiscent of the Orocarni Galaxy. It's hull is made of a sleek, bluish-grey metal that are a specialty of the Khazad smiths, a group of master craftsmen revered for their fine shipmaking and reluctance to part from said ships. Cynthia catches him looking and grins. 

"Nothing in the galaxy flies faster, not even her sister ships." She says proudly and Bart just wonders how she and Dante got their hands on it.  

"Don't ask." Cisco says, as if reading his mind. "The Spatium committee is already going to have a field day over us being in contact with my family, you don’t need to know about any of their crimes on top of it." 

"Conquests, little brother." Armando corrects from where he's taken a seat on one of the ship's wings, scythe across his knees. Cisco uses his powers to launch himself up, stumbling a little as Dante and Cynthia start to get the fighter's systems going. The metal underneath him shudders before falling into a softer vibration as the engines settle.  

"How'd you know where to find me?" He asks, kicking his feet as Armando looks off toward the empty desert.  

"You're Prince Captain reached out to mom, said you had gone missing, so we told our contacts to put their ears to the ground." He nudges Cisco heel with the tip of his boot. "We intercepted a radio transmission from the team that came after you here and followed them." 

"Any idea on who sent them after us?" 

Armando shakes his head. "Nope, but mom might know. She's had her people on it." 

"I haven't talked to her in nearly eight years." Cisco points out and Armando claps him on the shoulder, hopping down to the sand below with a grace that belies his years of training. 

"Then I think you're a little overdue for a call." His brother says, tossing a commlink up to him before he heads into the ship, scythe swinging at his side. For a long moment, Cisco simply stares at the commlink, turning it over in his hands as he tries to gather up the courage to call. 

… 

 

B'arrzz brings him back to the ruins of their home, now a smoldering pile of rubble a couple meters out from where the Ramoni have parked their ship.  

"It'll take a while to get it back to what it was." Jaime says, watching as B'arrzz nods, fingers skimming over some of the cooler bits of rock at their feet. 

"Especially on my own." He adds, straightening up. 

"This isn't gonna be like the first time you built it, I'll be here." Jaime argues and then B'arrzz's meaning catches up to him and eyes start to sting.  

"No you won't."  

"I don't--" Jamie's throat closes up and Kahji Da emerges from his clothes to crouch on his shoulder.  

"I would choose your words carefully." The beetle warns as Jaime finally finds his words, adding: 

"I don’t understand. I thought…" 

"I apologize." For the first time in years, B'arrzz sounds hesitant in his words. "I've never had a child but I can imagine that losing one is a devastating experience. Just as it is to lose a family. Cisco and Bart can offer you a way to reunite with your family Jamie, and I cannot."  

And Jamie knows that as soon as he thinks of offering, that B'arrzz will turn down any invitation to come along. He grew up here, married and lost his spouse in this desert. He couldn't leave those memories behind no sooner than Jamie could the ones of his own family. That's their deciding factor it seems. Family and what's left of it. 

Rushing forward, he wraps his arms around B'arrzz, cheek pressed against the warm exoskeleton of B'arrzz's suit as he wills his tears not to spill. The other beetle only hesitates for a moment before returning the embrace, arms tightening to near painful. They're both drawing in shuddering breathes, B'arrzz as close to crying as Jaime has ever seen him. It's not until he pulls back that Jamie realizes that he himself is actually crying.  

"Sorry." He wipes at his eyes, aware that his guardian isn't the best at dealing with emotions. 

"Don't ever be ashamed of your tears, Jamie Reyes." B'arrzz tells him, eliciting a wet chuckle from the other beetle.  

"Will you walk me to the ship?" He asks and B'arrzz nods.  

They walk in silence for a time, until B'arrzz holds out a hand and beckons Kahji Da back out into the open. "You'll keep him safe." 

It's not a question, but the beetle answers anyway, voice affronted. "Of course. He'll need a new guardian now that you're abandoning the role." 

Jaime hisses at his words but B'arrzz only laughs. "Of course." He hands him back and looks to Jaime. "Do your best to stay in contact during your travels. I'll have R'sshiiv pass along any messages if he visits the base during his trade route."  

They crest a hill and the Ramoni ship comes abruptly into view, blue-grey metal gleaming in the late day's sun. "Just remember to reply." Jamie tells him as Bart turns to the ship's gangway and shouts something up into its depths. "And thank you… For everything. I don't--" 

He cuts himself off with a frustrated sound, the words stuck somewhere in the back of his mind. What could he possibly say to ever thank B'arrzz enough for taking him in and raising him all these years? 

"You don’t have to." B'arrzz tells him. "Now go, your friend is waiting." 

Jamie looks and Bart is still there, giving them their privacy but obviously waiting, as B'arrzz had said. Everyone else seems to be in the ship and Jamie realizes that they're all probably waiting for him to finish saying goodbye.  

"Okay." He gives B'arrzz one last hug, quick and tight before running to join Bart on the ship's ramp.  

"You're coming with?" Bart asks and he nods, wanting to say more but still not finding the words. Bart seems to understand his silence though and adds: "I'm glad that you're here."  

It makes warmth flood him as he follows Bart over to where Cisco and Armamdo are seated, Dante and Cynthia further up in the ship's cockpit. 

He waits to buckle in, instead going to the nearest viewport as the gangway closes and the ship begins to hover, engines building. B'arrzz rises with them, wings holding him in the air as he fires a pulsar blast into the dusky expanse of the sky, green light sparking across Jamie's vision. Three more follow in quick succession as the ship leaves M'arzz atmosphere, a salute and farewell that heralds in Jamie's first glimpse of space in nearly ten years.  

… 

 

Dante watches as M'arzz shrinks to a spec in their ship's hud, the magnetic debris clouds quickly shielding it's surface and transforming the planet from a desert oasis to a swirling mass of brown and grey static-jamming storms. It's no wonder that it had remained fairly isolated from the rest of the surrounding galaxy, save for a few adventurous traders and merchants and Dante really can't imagine a more ironic place for Cisco to have gotten stranded on.  

In a universe where civilizations could literally communicate across galaxies to one another and jump a light-year in the span of a second, his little brother had managed to maroon himself on one of the only "undiscovered" planets knows to the galactic Commonmass. 

Shaking his head, he reaches over and sets the navigator, letting Cynthia handle the main piloting of the ship so that he can set up their jump sequences.  

Despite Armando's jibe from earlier, he's actually the best jumper in his mother's fleet, including his fiancé, a fact that drives her up a wall most of the time, but that makes him glow with pride. With three princes that all managed to be born with Powers and to one of the most powerful ruling bloodlines in the known universe, it's hard not to get compared to his siblings and while Armando is perfect and Cisco is a genius, Dante has always felt like the extra son. He doesn’t have Cisco's brains and raw power or Armando's political cunning  and military prowess, but what he does have is a ship and a best friend that he's going to marry in a couple months.  

He knows that his mother's advisers don’t think very favorably of him and that he'll never be the golden prince that the military chiefs think Armando is, but he's something. Which is why it's so hard for him to understand Cisco. Cisco, who after their dad died, became a ray of hope when he was born and helped keep their hard won family from going supernova. Cisco, who had proved smarter than even their mother by the time he was sixteen cycles and was strong enough on the power scale to shake apart planets. Dante had once heard him described as "the best weapon La Reina would ever have" and had immediately threatened to cut the man's throat for ever daring to insult their family in such a way. But Cisco had left their family to fight for a federation that hunted people like them.  

It didn’t make sense to him. Cisco didn’t make sense to him, but what did was the happiness he felt seeing him again. Of being able to hug the man that his brother had become and know that he was okay, that in all the years they'd been apart he hadn't been killed or locked in a lab to be studied.  

"What are you thinking about?"  

He breaks from his thoughts to find Cynthia looking at him, coasting them further into open space while the navigator finalizes their route. 

"Cisco."  

She nods, the errant braids in her hair moving with the movement. "It's good to see him again." 

"Yeah…" The navigator dings and Cynthia swaps the controls to his side. "I just don’t know how to feel about it." 

"What do you mean?"  

He kicks the ship into the jump sequence, watching closely as planets and asteroids whiz by in the blink of an eye. He makes adjustments as he goes, making sure that they don't smack into any unregistered ships or the space stations that other civilizations adore to litter space with.  

"I mean- He left the fleet. My mother built us up, made all of us a family and he abandoned that. It's not like he was a child looking for adventure and even so, why Spatium? The people that he fights for would sooner hunt us down like seafoxes than learn our way of life and..  I don’t know. I missed him and I want him back, but I'm scared of the repercussions this will bring." 

"Remember when you joined the pilot ranks?" Cynthia asked. "Armando had ranked up to general and everyone assumed Cisco was going to become a master scholar. You told me that you decided to learn how to fly because it was the only thing your brothers weren't good at. And you found happiness. Not because of what other people thought of you or what was expected of you, but because you were finally doing something you genuinely enjoyed. Maybe Cisco was looking for the same happiness when he left." 

Her words plunge him into another silence, one that she lets him keep because she knows that he's thinking again. What if Cisco wasn't always as happy as Dante had assumed he was? What if he was looking for more, just like Dante had been at his age? Had he found it? 

"How many jumps do we have left?" Cynthia asks and Dante looks over to the navigator, watching as it calculates their distance. 

"Two hundred and thirty six."  

Smiling, Cynthia leans over and kisses him on the cheek. "Wake me up when we get to where we're going." She says before leaning back in her chair and pulling her hood up.  

When he checks a while later, she's sound asleep. 

… 

 

Cisco doesn't know how to feel. A large part of him is happy to be around his family, ecstatic even, but another bigger part of him is worried. Worried about who could have been behind the death squad that was sent after him and Bart, worried about what he'll find once they get back to the Gideon, worried about being in contact with his family. Because despite the happiness he feels finally being around them again, he's breaking one of Spatium's terms of having him be a part of their operation.  

And then there was Dante, who unlike Armando, had given him a hug and proceeded to distance himself from him as much as possible. His and Dante's relationship had always been strained, but from what Cisco couldn’t say. While Armando and Mother had looked upon his past achievements with pride, Dante had only ever offered him wan smiles. His mother had once told him that Dante had been struggling with himself, but he'd also seen Armando struggle with things too. Such as the expectations of the Fleet and the heavy title of being his mother's heir. When he was younger he hadn't understood that maybe Dante had felt left out from the family, that he was not as loved as La Reina's other sons, but now that he'd grown into his own self, had found his own comfort in his accomplishments, he thinks he understands that maybe Dante was grasping for his own foothold in life while envious of he and Armando for seemingly having everything figured out. When he had left he had wrote Cynthia a note, had told his mother and Armando of his plans, but he hadn't thought to say goodbye to Dante, too caught up in the thought that his brother would be relieved to see him go. It was that fear of Dante's dislike that had driven them apart in the end. 

"Armando?" Armando looks over to him at the call of his name. "Is Dante okay?" 

"He's fine, why?" 

Cisco looks toward the front of the ship, where Dante and Cynthia are secluded in the pilots' hud. "No reason." 

"He's happy you're here." Armando tells him, seeing through Cisco's worry. "But he's never been an optimist. Cynthia helps." 

"When did--" 

"A couple years after you left. Mom's ecstatic of course." Cisco laughs, then nearly chokes when Armando adds: "Wait until you meet your niece." 

"Niece!" Cisco squawks, whipping around to stare at Armando. "I have a niece?" 

Armando barely hides his laughter, snickering into his palm like a child. "Stars no. Dante would lose his mind." 

Further in the hold, Bart and Jamie are laughing as well, Kahji Da clenching precariously onto Jamie's shoulder and making discontented noises. It successfully pulls Cisco from his melancholic thoughts as he looks at Armando grinning at him with mirth in his eyes.  

"How long does this kind of travel take?" Jamie asks once he's got himself back under control.  

Armando shrugs. "A couple of hours, give or take. The Arbra's fast, but we've got a lot of space to cover." 

"Arbra?" Cisco repeats. "The heirophant?" 

"Father of our people and source of our power. Mother was surprised by the name as well, but it fits. Arbra was a skilled fighter and a nomad, much like Cynthia and Dante are."  

"I was expecting something--" 

"Different?" Armando laughs. "We all were, but I think Dante has finally found a place in life where he is happy." He sighs. "I'm proud of him." 

Cisco regards his brother, his diplomatic posture, and the tension that his shoulders hold even while among family. "What about you?" 

"I'm happy as well Cisco. Merely tired." Armando admits before steering the conversation away from himself. "How did your talk with mother go?" 

Cisco spends the next couple minutes detailing their conversation and the revelations that La Reina gave him concerning their would-be assassins, although he speaks quietly so as not to alert Bart and Jaime. By the end of it Armando is frowning, brows scrunched up in incredulous anger.  

"Do you know what you're going to do with the information she gave you?" He asks and Cisco sighs. That is the dilemma he's been mulling over since they said their goodbyes, his mother's as warm as if he'd never left.  

"I'll report to Admiral West once Hunter is dealt with, but I'm more concerned about the Gideon."  

Armando hums and squeezes his shoulder in comfort. "One step at a time then."  

In his mind, Cisco repeats his words, letting some resolve wash over him as he turns to look out the Arbra's windows, watching as stars blink past them.  

… 

 

They manage to track down the Gideon on the outer edge of the Alpesia galaxy, Dante calling Cisco up to the HUD so that he can flag the ship. 

"This is NORA, reporting AI of the Gideo. Please state your business and ship designation." NORA voice is flat and professional. 

"This is Lieutenant Commander Cisco Ramon of the SEMS Star of Gideon aboard the Arbra Pirating Vessel." Cisco tells her and NORA's tone holds what could almost be concern when she replies. 

"Cisco? Why are you on a pirate ship?" 

"That's a long story." He says with a bit of a laugh, almost delirious with relief to be speaking to someone on his ship again. "We need to dock with the Gideon please. And NORA?" 

"Yes?" 

"Please have Eobard meet us when we dock, but don't alert the Captain." 

"Of course." If she finds his request strange, she doesn’t show it. "Docking instructions should be inbound to your HUD. And Cisco?" 

He pauses on the way to the hold, hand resting on the door pad. "Yeah?"

"Welcome back."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this is late af, but I'm sooooo forgetful and a bit of a perfectionist. But here we are, a new chapter and more still to come!
> 
> As always, leave a review and let me know what you think.


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